New DOE ‘Earthshot’ Program Aims To Cut Costs For Geothermal Energy

September 8, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 8, 2022

The Department of Energy (DOE) has set a new goal of making enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) more widely available by cutting its cost by 90 percent to $45 per megawatt hour (MWh) by 2035.

Enhanced geothermal systems drill wells deep below the Earth’s surface, at least 4,000 feet deep, and then inject fluids into human-made reservoirs where the natural heat and pressure creates steam that can be extracted and used to power a turbine.

Geothermal energy currently generates about 3.7 gigawatts (GW) in the United States, but a substantial amount of geothermal energy is not accessible with current technology. The DOE estimates that more than five terawatts of heat resources exist in the United States and that capturing a small fraction of that potential could affordably power over 40 million American homes.

The DOE said its Enhanced Geothermal Shot seeks to aggressively accelerate research, development, and demonstrations of EGS technology to better understand the subsurface, improve engineering to drill more wells faster, and capture more energy with larger wells and power plants.

EGS can also enable technologies for widespread deployment of geothermal heating and cooling that would allow buildings and whole communities to decarbonize, the DOE said.

Because geothermal technology relies heavily on drilling and construction, the workforce is similar to that of the oil and gas industry and presents an opportunity to transition skilled workers and entire communities from fossil fuels to clean energy, the DOE said.

“Achieving the Enhanced Geothermal Shot will go a long way toward reaching President Biden’s goals of 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and net-zero emissions across the U.S. economy by 2050,” according to the DOE.

The DOE’s Enhanced Geothermal Shot is the fourth “Shot” announced in the agency’s Energy Earthshots Initiative that aims to break down scientific and technical barriers to tackling the climate crisis.

Maine And Rhode Island Join New York-led Clean Hydrogen Hub Coalition

September 7, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 7, 2022

Maine and Rhode Island have joined a multi-state clean hydrogen hub in the New England-MidAtlantic region, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced late in August.

The newest members of the New York-led coalition join Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey in the effort to develop a proposal to become one of at least four regional clean hydrogen hubs designated through the federal Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

In addition to the six states, the coalition includes 14 private sector companies, 12 utilities, 20 hydrogen original equipment manufacturers, 10 universities, seven non-profits, two transportation companies, and three state agencies.

Hochul’s office said New York would continue to engage with states and entities interested in joining the coalition.

The coalition members have agreed to work together to lay the groundwork for a proposal for the Department of Energy (DOE) funding opportunity expected to be announced in September or October with up to $8 billion in total funding available for regional clean hydrogen hubs.

They have also committed to collaborate with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), New York Power Authority (NYPA), and Empire State Development (ESD) to develop a clean hydrogen hub proposal.

Partner states will also coordinate with their respective state entities to help align the consortium’s efforts with each state’s climate and clean energy goals. These include Connecticut’s Global Warming Solutions Act goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, Massachusetts’ goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, New Jersey’s Global Warming Response Act goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, Maine’s statutory goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 and reduce gross greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050, and Rhode Island’s commitment to achieving 100 percent renewable electricity by 2033.

The coalition also plans to continue to focus on the integration of renewables, such as onshore and offshore wind, hydropower, solar power, and nuclear power, into clean hydrogen production, and the evaluation of clean hydrogen for use in transportation, heavy industry, and power generation.

“This expanded collaboration with Maine, Rhode Island and other like-minded partners will significantly boost the value of our clean hydrogen hub proposal and make the Northeast a stronger, more multi-faceted contender for funding through the U.S. Department of Energy. Innovative technologies are showing the potential of green hydrogen as a fossil fuel alternative and the time is right to take a deeper dive into the many opportunities that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, benefit the workforce and help build a clean energy economy,” Justin E. Driscoll, interim president and CEO of NYPA, said in a statement.

In February, the Department of Energy (DOE) released two requests for information (RFI) to collect feedback from stakeholders to inform the implementation and design of two of the DOE’s clean hydrogen programs, which in total call for investments of up to $9.5 billion.

In March, the governors of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a proposal to vie for DOE’s regional clean hydrogen hub funding opportunity.

Report Highlights Regulators’ Role In Assuring Nuclear Power’s Continued Contribution

September 1, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 1, 2022

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) has released a white paper detailing the key role nuclear power can play as a clean energy resource and the role state regulators can play to support the continued viability of nuclear generation.

The paper, Nuclear Energy as a Keystone Clean Energy Resource, was written by Energy Ventures Analysis under subcontract to the NARUC Center for Partnerships and Innovation. It explores nuclear energy’s role in providing carbon-free electricity and highlights key considerations for regulators to keep in mind as decarbonization efforts continue across many states and utilities.

“Retaining the current nuclear fleet will be vital to meet current state decarbonization goals,” the authors of the paper conclude. They noted that 30 states have renewable portfolio standards (RPS), but only 13 of those states have established a clean energy standard (CES) that allows generation from other zero-carbon resources, such as nuclear energy, to count toward the requirement. And, of those 13 states, only four – New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut – provide direct financial support for their in-state nuclear plants through zero-emission credits or other financial subsidies.

States should expand existing RPS rules to include nuclear energy as a qualifying resource, and states with CES regimes should establish financial support that could enable struggling nuclear plants to continue operation, the paper said.

Since 2013, 13 nuclear reactors totaling almost 11,000 megawatts (MW) have retired and two more reactors are scheduled to retire within the next three years. The retirements are mostly due to economic factors, particularly competition from relatively cheap natural gas brought about by rising shale gas supplies, the paper said.

There are still 92 nuclear reactors in operation in the United States with a total of 97,400 MW of capacity, which in aggregate account for approximately 20 percent of total electric generation and almost 50 percent of carbon-free electricity.

And as states continue to move toward higher levels of intermittent generation to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets, the reliable, zero emission energy of nuclear power will become more crucial, the paper said.

Nuclear reactors have the lowest forced outage rates among major fuel and technology types, the authors noted, citing data from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). And because of their low cost of fuel, they are also one of the cheapest non-renewable generating resources operating in the United States, the paper said. Nuclear power plants are also a major employer and taxpayer, the paper noted.

Nonetheless, six states currently do not allow for the construction of new nuclear power plants until a federal solution has been found to provide safe long-term storage for spent nuclear fuel.

The paper’s authors recommend that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the federal government should finalize a decision on the safe long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel at a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) to enable states like Connecticut, Illinois, or Oregon to consider new nuclear plants as part of their future resource mix.

They also recommend enacting federal tax incentives that could provide additional financial opportunities for developers and investors to consider building new nuclear plants.

The paper also noted that current NRC regulations and guidance were developed and optimized for the licensing of conventional light water reactor technology. Updating those regulations to be risk-informed, performance- based, and technology inclusive would enable the more effective and efficient licensing of advanced reactor technologies, the paper said.

“Reducing unnecessary regulatory barriers to advanced reactor licensing is one of the keys to helping reduce the prohibitive costs of current conventional and advanced nuclear reactor designs,” the authors said.

The paper’s authors also said that state utility regulators should “ensure that utilities have fully considered the value of retaining their existing nuclear fleet through timely application for subsequent license renewal (SLRs) while also considering new nuclear power plants as viable resource options during their long-term resource planning procedures.”

In states with deregulated electricity markets, state utility regulators could work with state legislatures and other state regulatory agencies to provide financial incentives for utilities to retain and possibly expand nuclear generation within the state, the authors added.

“States play a vital role in moving the ball forward on advanced nuclear technology deployment. Ensuring that state energy regulators understand the opportunities that nuclear can help to unlock, as well as the challenges in deploying this technology effectively, is essential to ensure that nuclear continues to support grid reliability and carbon reduction goals,” Anthony O’Donnell, a Maryland commissioner and co-chair of the Department of Energy-NARUC Nuclear Energy Partnership and chair of the NARUC Subcommittee on Nuclear Issues–Waste Disposal, said in a statement.

California Lawmakers Approve Legislation That Allows For Nuclear Plant’s Continued Operation

September 1, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 1, 2022

California lawmakers voted to approve legislation that allows for the possible extension of the operation of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP), California’s only remaining operating nuclear power plant.

The vote to approve the measure followed on the heels of a recent California Senate Committee hearing related to the possible extension of the operation of the DCPP. Additional details on the bill are available here.

In June 2016, California investor-owned utility PG&E said it planned to retire Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California under a joint proposal with labor and environmental groups. The California Public Utilities Commission in 2018 signed off on a request by PG&E that it be allowed to retire the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant by 2025. The two units at Diablo Canyon together produce approximately 2,300 net megawatts of power.

Ana Matosantos, cabinet secretary to Newsom, said at the California Senate hearing that the DCPP proposal creates the conditions for an extension of Diablo Canyon “for the shortest amount of time necessary to be able to maintain the goal of reliability and continuing to move forward on our transition.” She said that proposed extension is for a five-year period with the possibility of revisiting that duration.

At the Senate hearing, Maureen Zawalick, Vice President of Decommissioning and Technical Services at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), said at the hearing that an extension of the nuclear plant would require a number of federal and state regulatory approvals.

“There are also some critical near-term activities we would have to quickly undertake to make a viable option for the state including funding, fuel purchasing and used fuel management,” she said. “The fuel purchasing and used fuel management take about an 18 month to two-year lead time. And we also need to be ramping up a project team to support the NRC license renewal application.”

The bill, SB-846, now goes to the desk of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is expected to sign the bill, according to various media reports.

Lansing, Michigan Utility Brings Gas Plant Online to Replace Retired Coal Plant

August 29, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 29, 2022

The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) in Michigan has brought online a 250-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired combined-cycle plant, replacing a retired coal-fired plant.

The $500 million Delta Energy Park replaces BWL’s 350-MW coal-fired Eckert Power Station which retired in 2020, and supports the utility’s increased renewable portfolio. The new plant, at the Erickson Power station in Delta Township, is BWL’s second natural gas plant.

The 162-MW coal-fired Erickson Power Station, which was commissioned in 1973, is scheduled to retire by December 2022. BWL said the retirement will make it the largest utility in Michigan to generate coal-free power by 2022, reducing its carbon emissions by 80 percent.

“Delta Energy Park marks a milestone in BWL history for being able to generate safe, affordable power to the greater Lansing region,” Dick Peffley, BWL’s general manager said in a statement.

“Along with moving us closer to our clean energy goals, this plant has opened the door for tremendous regional economic growth opportunities, such as BWL being the catalyst for the State of Michigan and General Motors to locate GM’s $2.6 billion electric vehicle battery plant just a few miles down the road. DEP has also resulted in ongoing conversations with new, large industrial customers looking to build in Lansing.”

The Delta Energy Park plant entered service in March and was built by a combination of local and national firms, including Lansing Power Constructors, a joint venture of Lansing’s Clark Construction and Barton Malow, as construction manager; Black & Veatch as design engineer; Sergeant & Lundy as owner’s engineer; and Michigan’s Consumers Energy as transmission line contractor.

BWL has around 100,000 electric customers, 58,000 water customers, 155 steam customers and 19 chilled water customers.

Power Generated by Natural Gas Set a New Record in July, EIA Says

August 29, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 29, 2022

Electric power generated by natural gas-fired plants hit a record in July, beating the record set in July 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Gas-fired generation in the lower 48 states hit 6.37 million megawatt hours (MWh) on July 21, 2022, despite relatively high natural gas prices, according to the EIA’s Hourly Electric Grid Monitor.

The previous record, set on July 27, 2020, was reached when natural gas prices were historically low.

Demand for natural gas for electricity generation has been strong throughout July as a result of above-normal temperatures, reduced coal-fired electricity generation, and recent natural gas-fired capacity additions, the EIA said.

Electricity demand usually peaks in the summer because of demand for air conditioning, and this July was especially hot, ranking as the third hottest on record in the United States.

Despite higher prices, electric sector demand for natural gas remains high. This July, the Henry Hub natural gas price averaged $7.28 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). In July 2020, the natural gas at Henry Hub price averaged $1.77/MMBtu.

In June, the EIA said natural gas spot prices would remain high throughout 2022 with a forecast of the Henry Hub price to average $8.71/MMBtu through August.

Higher gas prices usually push electric generators to turn to other fuels, such a coal, but this summer coal-fired plants have not been used as much as in prior summers because of continued retirements of coal-fired plants, relatively high coal prices, and lower-than-average coal stocks at power plants.

In May, coal inventories at power plants averaged 20 percent lower than prior year levels, the EIA said. In December the EIA said coal stockpiles at electric power plants reached their lowest levels since 1978.

Earlier this month, the EIA said increased economic activity and hot summer weather would increase electricity consumption this year by 2.4 percent over 2021 levels, according to the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).

Possible Extension Of California Nuclear Power Plant’s Operation Gets Closer Look

August 29, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 29, 2022

A California Senate Committee on Aug. 25 held a hearing on the possible extension of the operation of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP), California’s only remaining operating nuclear power plant.

The hearing was held by the California Senate’s Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications.

In June 2016, California investor-owned utility PG&E said it planned to retire Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California under a joint proposal with labor and environmental groups. The California Public Utilities Commission in 2018 signed off on a request by PG&E that it be allowed to retire the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant by 2025. The two units at Diablo Canyon together produce approximately 2,300 net megawatts of power.

A background memo prepared for the hearing by the California Senate Committee noted that in late April of this year, California Governor Gavin Newsom commented on the possibility of extending operations of the DCPP, as well as natural gas plants that like DCPP are subject to retirement due to State Water Board regulations regarding once-through-cooling facilities that impacts ocean water and marine life.

“Since then, there have been a number of news reports and a Joint Agency Workshop as recent as two weeks ago to discuss the need, option, and hurdles to extending operation of DCPP,” the memo noted. “The Newsom Administration has noted the opportunity to secure federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, specifically a pending September 6th application deadline for currently operating nuclear facilities.”

Newsom recently proposed to extend operations of the DCPP.

In a presentation at the hearing, Ana Matosantos, cabinet secretary to Newsom, said that the DCPP proposal creates the conditions for an extension of Diablo Canyon “for the shortest amount of time necessary to be able to maintain the goal of reliability and continuing to move forward on our transition.” She said that proposed extension is for a five-year period with the possibility of revisiting that duration.

Maureen Zawalick, Vice President of Decommissioning and Technical Services at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), said at the hearing that an extension of the nuclear plant would require a number of federal and state regulatory approvals.

“There are also some critical near-term activities we would have to quickly undertake to make a viable option for the state including funding, fuel purchasing and used fuel management,” she said. “The fuel purchasing and used fuel management take about an 18 month to two-year lead time. And we also need to be ramping up a project team to support the NRC license renewal application.”

Other witnesses at the hearing included Hunter Stern, Business Representative, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1245; Ralph Cavanagh, energy Program Co-Director, Natural Resources Defense Council; Bruce Gibson, Supervisor, Chair of the Board, County of San Luis Obispo; Kim Delfino, Representative, Defenders of Wildlife and the California Coastal Protection Network and Mark Toney, Executive Director, The Utility Reform Network.

Meanwhile, a group of California lawmakers this month unveiled a proposal that “would reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to extend the lifespan of the state’s last operating nuclear power plant — and instead spend over $1 billion to speed up the development of renewable energy, new transmission lines and storage to maintain reliable power in the climate change era,” the Associated Press reported.

California mayors send letter to Newsom

Also this month, the mayors representing nine cities on California’s Central Coast sent a joint letter to Newsom on Monday sharing policies that they are requesting Newsom include in any legislation that explores the extension of Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s operations.

Officials said that the goal of the letter is to help shape the legislation with a set of guiding principles that include, among other things, ensuring the safe operation of the power plant, limiting the term of the extension and tying it to making sure the state has enough renewable energy and battery storage to replace the power plant when the license extension expires and finding a safe solution for the long-term storage of the spent fuel that is currently being stored at DCPP.

The letter is available here.

Ariz. Public Power And Cooperative Groups Urge PG&E To Extend Nuclear Plant’s Operating Life

In a June 2022 letter to Patricia Poppe, CEO of PG&E, officials with the Irrigation & Electrical Districts’ Association of Arizona (IEDA), the Arizona Municipal Power Users’ Association (AMPUA) and the Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association (GCSECA) made the case for extending the life of the California nuclear power plant Diablo Canyon Power Plant past its existing license.

The letter was signed by Ed Gerak, executive director of IEDA, AMPUA’s Russell Smoldon, and Dave Lock, CEO of GCSECA.

“While we understand that the history of the plant is long and complicated, we hope that you will agree that the benefits of extending the operating license outweighs the cons,” they wrote.

DOE Plans To Offer Funding Opportunities For Hydro R&D

August 23, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 23, 2022

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) for three funding opportunities totaling $28 million to support research, development, and deployment of hydropower, including pumped storage hydropower.

DOE intends to issue funding opportunities aimed at supporting the testing of innovative technologies, development approaches, or construction techniques to reduce time, cost, or risks associated with hydropower and pumped storage hydropower development; conduct studies to further the development and deployment of a permitted pumped storage hydropower project; and seek stakeholder insights to inform hydropower research.

The DOE said the activities should support new hydropower technology deployment, continued pumped storage hydropower project development, and efforts to better understand challenges facing the industry to help achieve the nation’s clean energy goals.

The three proposed funding opportunities are:

• $14.5 million to encourage sustainable growth of hydropower and pumped storage hydropower technologies to support power system decarbonization, including technologies to retrofit non-powered dams. To expand diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, the DOE said this opportunity is expected to include a topic area seeking research and development projects from entities that have not significantly engaged with DOE in the past.
• $10 million to expand pumped storage hydropower to provide long-duration energy storage and support increased integration of variable renewable energy on the grid.
• $4 million to support stakeholders’ efforts to understand community-level issues affecting hydropower technologies and improvements, with the goal of informing current and future hydropower research and development needs.

The NOI doesn’t specify when the Funding Opportunity Announcements are likely to be released or when applications are due.

Hydropower currently accounts for 31.5 percent of U.S. renewable electricity generation, about 6.3 percent of total electricity generation, and 93 percent of utility scale energy storage comes from pumped storage hydropower, according to the DOE.

U.S. hydropower capacity could expand by nearly 50 percent by 2050, according to the DOE’s Hydropower Vision report.

WAPA To Provide Hydropower To Kansas, Nebraska Municipalities

August 21, 2022

by APPA News
August 21, 2022

Eleven municipalities in Kansas and Nebraska and one military installation in Colorado have been approved to receive at-cost federal hydropower from Western Area Power Administration’s (WAPA) Loveland Area Projects starting Oct. 1, 2024.

 It is the largest addition of WAPA customers since the remarketing of Hoover Dam hydropower in 2017, WAPA said on Aug. 18.

Many of the new customers, like our current customers, are small rural entities. Having access to the affordable hydropower resource and transmission services can be a real benefit,” said WAPA Contracts and Energy Services Manager Parker Wicks.

The new customers join 124 existing entities who have renewed firm electric service contracts for Loveland Area Projects hydropower starting Oct. 1, 2024. Under those contracts, customers will receive allocations of energy from 20 federal Bureau of Reclamation hydroelectric facilities in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado for 30 years.

The new customers include nine Kansas municipalities, two Nebraska municipalities and a U.S. Space Force base:

Colorado

Buckley Space Force Base

Kansas

City of Alma

City of Blue Mound

City of Elwood

City of Luray

City of Montezuma

City of Morrill

City of Prescott

City of Robinson

City of Wathena

Nebraska

Village of Paxton

Village of Trenton

In total, the new customers will receive 11,302,438 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy in the summer season (April – September) and 9,106,151 kWh in the winter season (October – March). Each new customer will receive a proportional allocation based on their seasonal demand.

To begin receiving federal hydropower in October 2024, the new customers will need to sign a power contract by Dec. 31. Then, they will need to get transmission arrangements in place by summer 2024.

The opportunity to receive new allocations of hydropower arose from a scheduled resource pool under Loveland Area Projects’ current contract terms. The resource pool, which occurs every 10 years, withdraws up to 1% of the marketable hydropower resource from existing customers and makes it available to new customers through a public process.

Entities eligible to apply for new hydropower allocations must be a municipality, rural electric cooperative, irrigation district, public utility district, Native American Tribe or federal or state agency in the designated project area that does not currently receive a federal hydropower allocation. With the exception of Tribes, all entities must also be able to receive the power from WAPA through the power grid.

The next Loveland Area Projects resource pool is scheduled for 2034. The application process would begin 2-3 years before then and would be advertised in the Federal Register.

To learn more about this resource pool, visit the Loveland Area Projects 2025 Resource Pool webpage

Argonne Lab Researchers Hope AI Can Lower Nuclear Plant Operating Costs

August 18, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 18, 2022

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are midway through a $1 million, three-year project to explore how artificial intelligence could lower the operating costs of nuclear power.

The premise of Argonne’s project to develop smart, computerized systems for nuclear plants is that their costs will have to come down if they are to play a role in the U.S. clean energy economy by providing large amounts of clean electricity.

Nuclear plants are expensive, in part, because they demand constant monitoring and maintenance to ensure consistent power flow and safety, according to the Argonne researchers. The expense of running nuclear plants has made it difficult for them to stay open, they said.

“Operation and maintenance costs are quite relevant for nuclear units, which currently require large site crews and extensive upkeep,” Roberto Ponciroli, a principal nuclear engineer at Argonne, said in a statement. “We think that autonomous operation can help to improve their profitability and also benefit the deployment of advanced reactor concepts.”

The project, funded by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies program, aims to create a computer architecture that could detect problems early and recommend appropriate actions to human operators.

“In a world where decisions are made according to data, it’s important to know that you can trust your data,” Ponciroli said. “Sensors, like any other component, can degrade. Knowing that your sensors are functioning is crucial.”

A typical nuclear plant has hundreds of sensors. The job of inspecting each sensor — and the performance of system components such as valves, pumps, heat exchangers — currently rests with staff who walk the plant floor. Instead, Argonne is exploring the potential for algorithms that could verify data by learning how a normal sensor functions and looking for anomalies. Once a sensor’s data is validated, an artificial intelligence system would then interpret signals from the sensor and recommend specific actions.

The technology could save the nuclear industry more than $500 million a year, Ponciroli and his colleagues estimate.

An artificial intelligence method called reinforcement learning replicates judgments humans make all the time by teaching the system to make decisions by evaluating potential outcomes.

At a nuclear plant, computers could detect problems and flag them to plant operators as early as possible, helping optimize controls and also avert more expensive repairs, as well as cutting back on maintenance on equipment that doesn’t need it, the Argonne researchers said.

In partnership with industry partners Argonne engineers have built a computer simulation, or “digital twin,” of an advanced nuclear reactor that can also be adapted to existing nuclear plants.

The Argonne team is validating its artificial intelligence concept on the simulated reactor and has completed systems to control and diagnose its virtual parts. The remainder of the project will focus on the system’s decision-making ability — what it does with the diagnostic data.

“The lower-level tasks that people do now can be handed off to algorithms,” Richard Vilim, an Argonne senior nuclear engineer, said in a statement. “We’re trying to elevate humans to a higher degree of situational awareness so that they are observers making decisions.”