Microsoft to help speed up nuclear power plant permits with AI

Published 16/07/2025, 14:06
© Reuters.

Investing.com -- Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) announced a partnership on Wednesday to use artificial intelligence for accelerating the permit process for new nuclear power plants.

The collaboration will utilize Microsoft’s AI technology to generate engineering and safety analysis reports required for construction permits and operating licenses for U.S. nuclear facilities. These AI systems have been trained on successful historical applications and will compile data from studies into complex applications that often span hundreds of pages.

"It’s created for human refinement, so a human can go through each of the sections and, specifically as needed, edit any of the sections, whether manually, or maybe with the help of AI - it’s really up to the human," said Nelli Babayan, AI director for federal civilian business at Microsoft.

This initiative follows President Donald Trump’s executive orders signed in May to expedite the licensing process for new nuclear power plants. The orders aim to reduce what is typically a multiyear process to as little as 18 months, responding to increasing energy demands from AI data centers.

The technology could also benefit existing nuclear facilities seeking to increase their power output. Scott Ferrara, deputy division director for nuclear safety and regulatory research at INL, explained that the AI can leverage data from approximately 82 previous power upgrades to help generate license amendment requests.

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