Article considers incorporation of AI into nuclear power plant operations

Arik opines that although human nuclear operators and engineers are needed to ensure that accurate data and calculations are being used, AI can be beneficial when the data are known to be accurate. “When an engineer sits in front of a computer, he has to think of each possibility and then go and calculate each possibility. With AI, you can just let it run loose. And with supercomputers these days, the sky’s the limit,” he says.

Diablo Canyon: Patteson describes the recent partnering of Pacific Gas and Electric with AI firm Atomic Canyon to incorporate AI systems into the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. These systems will be used to help “sort through millions of documents to create plans for the facility to meet licensing requirements and assist with regulatory planning in the coming years.” The AI systems are also expected to help with maintenance scheduling and other tasks at Diablo Canyon.

Reduce costs, optimize designs: Katya Le Blanc, a human factors scientist with Idaho National Laboratory, is quoted as observing that the nuclear energy industry is exploring AI to help manage documentation, including material with procedures, drawings, and regulatory requirements, because such documentation accounts for a substantial amount of the high costs associated with running a nuclear power plant. AI might be able to reduce those costs, according to Le Blanc. AI could also aid in the efficient modeling and optimization of reactor core designs.

AI won’t take control: Patteson notes that Xingang Zhao, an assistant professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee, cautions that AI will not be able to replace the work of humans in nuclear power plants. He is quoted as saying, “AI is supposed to generate outcomes that can help humans, human operators, and domain experts to make decisions. It is a decision-making ability that AI can enable . . . [AI] should be used by humans to ensure [that] control and decision-making by humans . . . meet the needs that the humans have.”

Zhao points out that the nuclear power industry is not going to let AI “take control” of nuclear reactors. He also observes that “it’s really natural to think that there are risks” associated with AI when it comes to safety and security. That is another reason that human operation will need to be retained.

Natural progression: While Le Blanc believes that the incorporation of AI into some aspects of nuclear power plant operations is a “natural progression,” it will be important to make “sure that you understand exactly what your problem that you’re trying to solve is, and what the requirements are for that problem, and then applying the AI in a way that is consistent with the data that you have. . . . I think it’s a very, very good opportunity. But you need to do it very mindfully.”