Government-funded AI tool developed to help monitor and manage nuclear reactors

AI enhancements are seemingly spreading to nearly every corner of tech, and apparently, nuclear reactors are no exception. The Argonne National Laboratory, headed by the U.S. Department of Energy, has been hard at work recently on an AI-centered system that can help both in the design and operation of nuclear power plants.

The AI system is known as the Parameter-Free Reasoning Operator for Automated Identification and Diagnosis and has been abbreviated to PRO-AID for short. According to the Argonne National Laboratory, this new system is intended to be versatile in many different aspects of nuclear management. The idea was to create a variety of tools that both newer nuclear plants could implement, as well as older facilities in need of upgraded tech management.

You can read more about what PRO-AID consists of in depth over at the Argonne National Laboratory website. It includes plenty of details about the system and different aspects of AI-powered options that can be implemented at nuclear facilities. However, we have a few examples to touch on to give you an idea of what it's capable of.

One of the biggest ways AI has been implemented is in monitoring. PRO-AID can help keep an eye on nuclear functions in real-time and use generative AI to relay status updates to staff members. It can also take advantage of mathematical processing to help interpret data that can be used to provide a bigger picture of how the facility is functioning.

While many of the functions are intended to work in tandem with an existing staff, there are also some aspects that are potentially in place to replace existing workers. According to Richard Vilim, a senior nuclear engineer from Argonne National Laboratory who recently spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the new technology, certain "lower-level capabilities" can be handled by PRO-AID, mitigating the need to replace retirees.

If you want to get a better understanding of PRO-AID and how it can be used to help nuclear facilities operate, check out the official Argonne National Laboratory website for lots of details and a deeper look at the tools it can offer. You can also find a video showcasing the new project over at the official Argonne National Laboratory's YouTube channel.