The Department of Energy has earmarked $50 million to fund research and development projects in nuclear energy and artificial intelligence. DOE said Wednesday its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy office will award a maximum of $35M to entities that can develop technologies to improve the management of nuclear power plants as part of the Generating Electricity Managed by Intelligent Nuclear Assets initiative.
The department’s Office of Science will also provide $13 million to support five AI research projects in collaboration with DOE’s national laboratories. DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions also created an AI portal under its Lab Partnering Service platform designed to streamline partnerships between key stakeholders.
In addition, DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory formed partnerships for healthcare and renewable energy efforts. Argonne recently joined the Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine consortium, while NETL collaborated with Siemens to deploy AI for operating sustainable gas turbines that support energy efficiency goals.
“AI truly will touch every aspect of our lives as it helps predict earthquakes, boost crop yields, and accelerate new medical treatments,†said DOE Undersecretary Mark Menezes.
DOE announced its new efforts during the InnovationXLab Summit in Chicago.
