Microsoft, US lab to use AI to speed up nuclear licensing process

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Idaho National Laboratory are collaborating to use the company’s Azure cloud and AI technologies to streamline the nuclear permitting and licensing application process.

INL said it will use a Microsoft-developed solution built with Azure AI services to generate engineering and safety analysis reports, which are standard reports submitted as a part of applications for construction permits and operating licenses for nuclear power plants.

The technology is designed to ingest and analyze nuclear engineering and safety documents, and generate documentation required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, and the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, for nuclear licensing.

“We are honored to collaborate with INL to help address the complicated process of nuclear licensing to potentially help speed the approval of nuclear reactors necessary to support our increasing energy demands,” said Heidi Kobylski, vice president for Federal Civilian Agencies, Microsoft.

INL noted that the tool does not perform analyses on the documents but rather automates the process of constructing licensing documents for subsequent human verification.

For reactor developers, generating the large, detailed reports is a time-consuming and expensive process that requires compiling safety data and language from multiple sources. The Azure AI-powered solution will help streamline and accelerate the review process, according to the INL.

INL added that the AI tool is not the first collaboration between the lab and Microsoft. In 2023, INL and Idaho State University, or ISU, nuclear engineering students developed the world’s first nuclear reactor digital twin — a virtual replica of ISU’s AGN-201 reactor — using the company’s Azure cloud computing platform.