Daily on Energy: Nuclear plants embrace artificial intelligence

Atomic Canyon launched NIVA, a Nuclear Industry Virtual Assistant, fleetwide in mid-August, making AI available to nuclear power plants across the United States by the end of the year, founder Trey Lauderdale told the Washington Examiner's Daily on Energy. NIVA was developed with the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the Nuclear Energy Institute, and is powered by the AI systems first deployed at Pacific Gas and Electric's Diablo Canyon plant in November 2024 plus FERMI, a retrieval engine trained on tens of millions of pages of Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents. The platform's first function is a knowledge assistant agent that tells plant employees what authoritative nuclear sources say, aimed at preserving institutional knowledge as surging AI-driven electricity demand pushes the industry to build new capacity.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers Granite Stater Callie is missing New Hampshire this week as much of the state, along with Maine and Vermont, is experiencing peak foliage. 🍂🍁 Some are saying it’s the best fall foliage to hit the region in years. Check out some photos of the White Mountains exploding with color here https://x.com/Shaun Terhune/status/2106135096839323812 . - ☢️🤖 Back in D.C., we’ve been taking a look at how nuclear power plants across the country are starting to integrate AI into their operations. What does that look like? Keep reading to find out. Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson @CalliePatteson and Maydeen Merino @MaydeenMerino . Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here . If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list. Stay informed.Stay ahead. Join Washington Examiner for unlimited access to the news, analysis, and commentary that matter most. See Options https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/subscribe/digital/ Already a member? Log in https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sign-in/ HOW NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS ARE EMBRACING AI: By the end of the year, many nuclear plants in the United States will be using artificial intelligence. No, the technology will not be used to run the power plants themselves. But it will be used to assist with and streamline operations. Let’s back up : In November 2024, California’s only nuclear energy facility, Diablo Canyon, became the first nuclear plant in the U.S. to adopt AI systems https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environment/3266108/nuclear-deployed-support-ai-both-ways/ . The plant’s operator, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, said https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-on-energy/3229133/daily-on-energy-cop29-latest-electricity-prices-rise-and-diablo-canyon-embraces-ai/ it was partnering with nuclear AI startup Atomic Canyon on the project. The systems, supported by Nvidia, are designed to process decades’ worth of data and documents, facilitating regulatory planning and other tasks. Now, Atomic Canyon is deploying the technology on a nationwide scale to help the industry meet surging demand brought about by AI itself. “Nuclear power will clearly be essential to America’s artificial intelligence leadership,” Atomic Canyon founder Trey Lauderdale told Daily on Energy. “But that relationship needs to run both ways where we need purpose-built AI that can help the nuclear industry operate the existing fleet, preserve that institutional knowledge, and through that enable us to build out new capacity.” Outfitting the North American fleet : In mid-August, Atomic Canyon announced https://www.atomic-canyon.com/news/2026-08-18-niva-fleetwide-launch/ that a new AI platform, known as the Nuclear Industry Virtual Assistant or NIVA , was now available. This AI assistant was developed in collaboration with the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations INPO , the Electric Power Research Institute, and the Nuclear Energy Institute. It is specifically powered by the AI systems deployed at Diablo Canyon as well as an AI-run retrieval engine called FERMI, which was trained on tens of millions of pages worth of documents from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. What does it do? Lauderdale spoke with Callie in the weeks after the August launch, explaining there are two primary functions of NIVA. The first is a knowledge assistant agent, also referred to as “KA.” “The best way to think about that is the knowledge assistant, it tells you kind of what the authoritative nuclear sources say,” Lauderdale said. He explained that nuclear power plant employees can use the KA to quickly sort through what federal regulations apply when evaluating a specific type of plant modification. When providing the necessary information, the AI system will also provide specific citations to allow for human-based verification. “Think of it as like a research assistant for nuclear professionals,” he said. The second function of NIVA is an “operating experience assistant.” Lauderdale explained this technology is meant to provide all the information necessary to workers when a nuclear power facility encounters an equipment issue or unusual condition. It will cross-reference similar instances at other facilities and provide workers with information on what actions were then taken and what their outcomes were. Who plans to use this technology? Lauderdale said Atomic Canyon plans to deploy the NIVA system to around 15,000 nuclear workers nationwide. The AI is being made available to the entire North American nuclear fleet and it will be released to all members of INPO. If you were not aware, INPO comprises every utility and energy company that operates one of the existing U.S. nuclear power plants, or is licensed to construct one. Lauderdale told Daily on Energy he expects “a majority” of INPO members to adopt the tech before the end of the year. One of the early adopters of the technology is Constellation Energy, which operates 21 reactors across 12 plants. These facilities are located in Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, and Texas. What it won’t do: It’s important to clarify that as the AI tech is deployed, it will not be authorized or capable of making critical decisions at nuclear power plants. Lauderdale said he believes human management will remain crucial to nuclear operations for a very long time, if not indefinitely, given how heavily regulated the nuclear energy industry is. “The AI is not anywhere near ready – in a position to run or make decisions for a nuclear power plant,” he said. “As you look out, you know, decades from now, it’s hard to imagine what the technology will look like. But even if technologically speaking, the products and the tech are there, I think as an industry, we will be reluctant to enable AI to make those types of decisions.” All the rest: ZELDIN SAYS EPA IS DAYS AWAY FROM PROPOSING NEW OIL AND GAS RULES: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency is days away from rolling back parts of the Biden administration’s standards on oil and gas operations. At an oil and gas event today in New Mexico, Zeldin said the agency will soon be proposing next steps to reconsider the Biden administration’s 2024 oil and natural gas rules, also known as OOOOb/c. What can you expect in the proposal? The EPA said it would propose two options for regulating marginal wells, with separate standards for different types of wells. It would also propose to rescind the Super Emitter Program and split standards for covers and closed vent systems. The agency will also propose revisiting the overall approach to regulating associated gas from oil wells. It will also propose technical changes to flame monitoring data deviations, control device alerts, and visible emissions test conditions. Marginal wells account for less than 5% of the country’s oil and gas supply. But the EPA https://www.epa.gov/natural-gas-star-program/marginal-conventional-wells itself has noted that these wells contribute to nearly 50% of the industry’s methane emissions. If you forgot : In May, a group of Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced legislation that would also ease air pollution regulations for marginal wells. Read Callie’s exclusive on the bills here https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environment/4577459/republicans-propose-easing-air-pollution-rules-oil-gas-facilities/ . IEA BACKS ACCELERATING RELEASE OF OIL STOCKS FROM PREVIOUS PLEDGE: The International Energy Agency said it will speed up its release of oil reserves in an attempt to combat soaring diesel and gasoline prices, but stopped short of agreeing to release more than what was already announced this past spring. The IEA has released approximately 325 million barrels of oil to market since pledging to deliver around 400 million barrels in March, IEA executive director Fatih Birol said https://www.iea.org/news/statement-by-iea-executive-director-on-meeting-of-iea-member-governments-on-7-october-2026 in a statement today. A full release of all stocks pledged would bring another 100 million barrels to market, he added. The IEA agreed to continue with stock releases today, at an accelerated pace. “The IEA stands ready to release more of these stocks to the market if and when required,” Birol said. How prices reacted: International and domestic oil prices fell today following the IEA’s announcement. Just before 3 p.m. EDT, Brent crude had dropped about 0.14% and was priced at $100.44 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate fell by 1.11%, selling at $88.45 a barrel. SACRÉ BLEU HOW EUROPE’S HEATWAVE HURT FRENCH WINE: 2026 has been a hot year for Europe. Record-shattering heatwaves swept across the region from late May through September, with the summer becoming the hottest in history. This sweltering heat had a significant negative impact on France’s wine industry, with total output dropping to a nearly 70-year low. A report released by the French agricultural ministry, reviewed https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-07/french-wine-output-at-lowest-in-almost-70-years-on-heat-drought?srnd=phx-green by Bloomberg , found that the country’s total output is expected to be around 35 million hectoliters for 2026. This is a 2% drop from last year, and 14% below the country’s five-year average. Extreme heatwaves and droughts hit French vineyards hard, and in Champagne alone output will drop by almost half compared to last year. AUSTRALIA RULES AGAINST COAL IN LANDMARK CLIMATE CASE : Australia’s highest court ruled against the country’s massive coal mining industry, finding that local planning authorities need to seriously consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions released by burning coal when issuing mining permits. The ruling http://hcourt.gov.au/sites/default/files/judgment-summaries/2026-10/hca-35-2026-10-07.pdf is expected to create challenges for expanding the coal industry in Australia, one of the largest exporters of coal in the world. The country has long been criticized for continuing to develop its coal industry while pushing for stronger climate mitigation measures on the international stage. Today’s ruling stems from an appeal made by mining company Mach Energy Australia Pty, which is seeking to expand a coal mine in New South Wales. The company had asked the high court to overturn a lower court decision that the expansion should not have been approved without considering the climate effects of burning coal, also known as Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. The lower court had ruled that these emissions would have constituted 98% of the project’s total predicted emissions and needed to be considered to minimize emissions “to the greatest extent practicable.” SOUTH KOREA UNVEILS $747 BILLION FOR ENERGY TRANSITION PLAN: South Korea announced $747 billion for its energy transition and decarbonization strategy through 2035. The country’s Korea Green Transformation Strategy targets 100 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, Reuters reports https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/south-korea-unveils-747-billion-energy-transition-plan-through-2035-2026-10-07/ . It also aims for electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles to account for more than 70% of new car sales by 2035. 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