Idaho National Lab teams up with Microsoft to improve nuclear permitting reviews
The Idaho National Laboratory and Microsoft announced on Wednesday that they are working together to bring artificial intelligence and cloud capabilities into the nuclear permitting and licensing space.
The lab said in a press release that it “will leverage a Microsoft-developed solution built with Azure AI services to generate engineering and safety analysis reports,” which are submitted “as a part of applications for construction permits and operating licenses for nuclear power plants.”
The Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy provided funding for the partnership through its National Reactor Innovation Center. The center was launched within INL in 2019 to serve as a “testbed” for industry partners to develop new technologies and processes related to nuclear reactors.
INL said the tool will also help personnel “streamline and accelerate the review process” for detailed reports from reactor developers, and that Microsoft’s Azure solution is designed to automate the often time-consuming process, rather than replace human evaluation of documents.
“This is a big deal for the nuclear licensing process,” Jess Gehin, associate laboratory director for nuclear science and technology at INL, said in a statement. “Introducing AI technologies will enhance efficiency and accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies.”
The new technology will also analyze submitted nuclear engineering and safety documents and then “generate documentation required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and DOE for nuclear licensing.”
The lab said the tool offers a range of solutions throughout the nuclear permitting and licensing application process, including when it comes to licensing advanced reactors, “which often have different designs, fuels, coolants and materials than the conventional reactors typically reviewed by the NRC.”
Heidi Kobylski, vice president for federal civilian agencies at Microsoft, said the use of these capabilities “can enable a new frontier of innovation and advancement by automating routine processes, accelerating development and freeing scientists and researchers to focus on the real complex challenges affecting our society.”
INL previously used Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform in 2023 when it collaborated with Idaho State University nuclear engineering students to develop “the world’s first nuclear reactor digital twin,” according to the lab.