WASHINGTON D.C. — February 28, 2025 — The Washington Examiner today published an op-ed by The Nuclear Company Chief Nuclear Officer Joe Klecha describing “why nuclear power needs AI as much as AI needs nuclear power.”

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“America is coalescing around nuclear energy as a cornerstone of the nation’s future power strategy,” Klecha wrote. “From the Trump administration’s pro-nuclear policies to recent legislation earning broad bipartisan support, for the first time in decades, there’s a shared commitment to expanding nuclear capacity to meet growing energy demands and environmental goals. But if the U.S. is to meet its growing energy demands, the nuclear industry must embrace artificial intelligence and digital tools to transform how reactors are built — on time, on budget, and at the scale our future requires.”

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Klecha described the nuclear industry’s longtime challenges in delivering projects on time and on budget.

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"The reasons for delays and added costs are not related to the technology of the reactors themselves — it is the way these projects are contracted, structured, managed and supported,” Klecha wrote. “Nuclear power plants are among humanity’s largest, most elaborate construction feats, yet construction sites continue to rely on outdated, disconnected enterprise software tools that were not designed for projects of this scale and complexity. Projects frequently suffer from insufficient planning and coordination, fragmented supply chains, incomplete or immature designs, and the lengthy time required to meet complex regulations. To think that legacy software tools responsible for typical commercial construction projects can be optimally utilized is ludicrous. And that’s when software is even being used.

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“At recent nuclear projects, reams of excessive paper work orders — often obsolete as soon as it was printed — were being pulled across the construction site in wagons to the work front. Workers were required to follow revisions and changes from one paper document to another, with the sheer volume of information and inefficiencies making cost increases, reduced productivity and schedule delays inevitable.”

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The Nuclear Company is leading the modernization of nuclear construction to deploy fleet-scale nuclear power across America with Klecha describing the company’s leadership in the field.

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“AI and advanced digital tools offer us an entirely new way of approaching nuclear construction. It is one of the key missing ingredients that will make nuclear deployment not just possible, but repeatable, scalable, and efficient,” Klecha wrote. “Leveraging AI, digital twins, blockchain and other technological advances that nuclear plants themselves are being built to support can keep new builds on time and on budget, and allow the industry to reach its full potential.

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“For instance, in the past, construction teams required hours of preparation before work began in order to collect paperwork, visit tools rooms to review equipment, and locate the rest of their crews for the prerequisite pre-job briefs. AI-powered scheduling can provide workers with instantaneous, context-aware guidance — from the availability of certain parts and materials to the weather — that adapts to real-time constraints, ideally saving teams hours each morning.

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“Augmented reality can also streamline processes and increase productivity in the field. Construction workers can be supplied with augmented reality welding helmets that offer training solutions, such as how to ensure welds or job details are completed properly. In the future, we expect to see these technologies transfer to in-field solutions for weld accuracy, quality inspections, and real time updating. A blockchain-based supply chain makes supply chain management transparent, efficient, and trustworthy. Digital systems can track and verify all parts, preventing shipment errors, material shortages and lost documentation. And when delays appear imminent, the system can initiate backup options immediately or prioritize other work in its place.

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“Sensors and other edge devices placed across a construction site can feed data in real-time to a digital twin model of the site. This would allow project managers to track progress with precision, comparing what’s actually happening on-site to the original engineering plans. ​By using predictive analytics, teams can spot potential problems early—catching issues before they become expensive mistakes.

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“AI can even assist with regulatory compliance, turning a traditionally labor-and time-intensive task to a process that becomes nearly instantaneous. With today’s advanced technology, we can use large language models to rapidly review tens of thousands of documents and AI agents trained on the regulatory requirements to validate the data recorded automatically at the construction site.”

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The Nuclear Company’s unique approach focuses on streamlining processes, utilizing advanced construction and manufacturing methods, and leveraging cutting-edge digital technologies. By utilizing this approach with proven, licensed technology, The Nuclear Company aims to achieve significant cost reductions and shortened project timelines, meeting its commitment to on-time, on-budget deployment of its first fleet of nuclear reactors in the United States.

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Klecha concluded his op-ed, “American support for nuclear power has never been higher, but unless the industry commits to changing its track record of over-budget and behind-schedule construction, that support will quickly diminish. Technological innovations offer an unprecedented opportunity to reestablish American leadership in nuclear power, where China has built 37 reactors in the last decade with 30 more under construction. It’s time to engineer a nuclear renaissance — one powered by the very technologies that will depend on our most complex energy source.”

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Click here to read the full op-ed at The Washington Examiner.