Idaho National Laboratory will use Amazon Web Services’ artificial intelligence tools and advanced cloud infrastructure to develop AI for nuclear energy projects.
INL Director John Wagner said Wednesday that the partnership marks a step toward integrating AI into nuclear energy research and development.
“This collaboration underscores the critical role of linking the nation’s nuclear energy laboratory with AWS,” he explained. “By leveraging AWS’s cutting-edge cloud computing and AI solutions, we can accelerate nuclear energy deployment for America.”
AWS Services Available to INL
The INL will tap into Amazon Bedrock, which offers secure and flexible tools for developing generative AI applications and agents
According to Chris Ritter, division director of Scientific Computing and AI at INL, Bedrock will enable government researchers to build AI-powered nuclear energy applications using leading foundation models.
Ritter shared that the national laboratory will also use specialized tools such as Amazon SageMaker and customized chips like Inferentia and Trainium to support mission requirements.
Amazon SageMaker is a fully managed service that aids data scientists and engineers to build, customize and deploy foundational models for various use cases.
INL will also use AWS Compute and AI tools to create a digital twin of small modular nuclear reactors. Scientists could integrate near real-time data from the physical reactors to digital twin, which could pave the way for autonomous nuclear operations.
“AWS’s powerful AI and computing technology will support Idaho National Laboratory’s development of autonomous nuclear reactors to pioneer a future where civilian nuclear operations are safer, smarter and more responsive,” commented David Appel, vice president of U.S. federal and global national security and defense for AWS. “We’re proud to collaborate with the Department of Energy and Idaho National Laboratory to accelerate safe advanced nuclear energy that will strengthen America’s energy leadership and our technological edge.”
