Oak Ridge and Atomic Canyon partner to boost nuclear licensing through AI tools

Oak Ridge and Atomic Canyon partner to boost nuclear licensing through AI tools
by Jeremy Rumsey
Oak Ridge TN (SPX) Jul 24, 2025

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and AI startup Atomic Canyon have signed a memorandum of understanding to accelerate the nuclear power licensing process using artificial intelligence. The collaboration was formalized at the Nuclear Opportunities Workshop in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The initiative aims to harness high-performance computing and advanced AI tools to automate portions of license application reviews, allowing for faster regulatory approvals without compromising safety. The project supports U.S. goals to expedite reactor licensing and deployment of new nuclear power plants.

"ORNL was critical to the development of nuclear energy more than 75 years ago, and we are committed to advancing the technologies needed to sustain and grow the nation's nuclear capacity today," said ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer. "The time is now. With new capabilities enabled by AI and partners like Atomic Canyon, we can help the nuclear industry unleash American energy."

As a key Department of Energy facility, ORNL hosts research infrastructure like the High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Frontier supercomputer at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. These assets are now enabling Atomic Canyon to develop next-generation simulation, testing, and digital qualification capabilities.

"We're entering into a new, radically more advanced era of nuclear power, and the demand for steady-state energy consumption is growing rapidly," said Tom Evans, ORNL's lead scientist on the project. "Agreements like this are exactly how we can meet those demands through innovative approaches that accelerate the process by which nuclear power is brought to the grid."

Atomic Canyon's contribution includes FERMI, a suite of AI models trained on nuclear-specific documentation using the exascale Frontier supercomputer. FERMI underpins the company's Neutron AI platform, which helps users search and interpret NRC records with improved accuracy and speed.

The AI was trained using over 53 million pages of technical content from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's ADAMS database, equipping it with specialized vocabulary and context needed for precise document parsing.

"Our mission at Atomic Canyon is to build the most advanced generative AI platform for the nuclear industry," said Atomic Canyon CEO Trey Lauderdale. "ORNL's expertise in nuclear science and high-performance computing was critical for us to be able to build AI in a reliable format. We want to double-down on that relationship to build AI that can be used to help every reactor in America's nuclear fleet."

Beyond enhancing Neutron AI, the agreement allows for the development of Neutron Enterprise, an expanded version with proprietary features and advanced cybersecurity protections tailored for safeguarding sensitive nuclear data.