AI-driven planning is becoming essential for nuclear to realise its golden age and deliver complex projects, safely, on time and within budget. By Kevin Fuller, director of Americas & APAC at ALICE Technologies
With A GOLDEN AGE OF NUCLEAR emerging, the spotlight is now firmly on delivery. However, the industry’s track record of cost overruns and delays has raised tough questions about how to ensure projects are delivered on time and on budget. The answer is AI-powered project optimisation tools which are becoming essential to the industry’s future.
Managing new build complexity
Building a new nuclear facility is a monumental task that typically takes 10 to 15 years, sometimes longer. These extended timelines are shaped by rigorous design reviews, safety approvals and an evolving regulatory landscape. These all play a part in increasing the complexity of the build. As a result, delays can impact every stage of construction, with even minor changes potentially adding months to an already demanding schedule.
A key challenge is securing the right workforce. Standard construction teams cannot simply start working on a nuclear site; for example, specialist welders, rebar experts, and concrete experts are required, each with their own expertise and safety qualifications. This scarcity of skills increases costs and disrupts scheduling.
Challenges of decommissioning
Decommissioning introduces its own complexities, such as the safe handling of radioactive materials which can only be removed or handled at specific intervals. This requires intricate scheduling that aligns with these safety windows while security teams must remain on-site to protect potentially hazardous materials. As a result, site owners typically want to get the site safe as quickly as possible.
An example came during the decommissioning of a plant in Canada. It required a dedicated 35-person security team until high-grade waste was removed, which added significant ongoing costs to the project.
AI’s helping hand
AI is influencing nuclear projects across their whole lifespan. At the earliest stages, AI-powered construction tools, like ALICE, allow teams to test multiple build strategies and assess their impact before ground is broken. This process helps plan within constraints, such as labour availability, construction logistics and regulatory milestones. Owners can also evaluate alongside other portfolio projects, helping them allocate scarce resources.
Once construction is underway, AI provides real-time adaptability. Project teams can input issues as and when they happen, such as supply chain disruptions, labour constraints or delays, before generating updated schedules. This flexibility is essential in nuclear, where even small shifts can affect deadlines. With AI, project teams are able to find different solutions to realign them to the same deadline and cost objectives, improving resilience.
During the decommissioning process, AI helps teams build precise long-term schedules around tasks that require tight health and safety controls. It also identifies key milestones, such as the point at which a security team can be removed, helping reduce costs while keeping safety at the forefront. This clarity is crucial in decommissioning projects where timelines stretch over decades.
Managing procurement and supply chain risk
In both new builds and decommissioning projects, procurement remains a consistent bottleneck. Nuclear sites rely on highly specialised equipment and components, which are normally custom-fabricated and have extended lead times. Even a single delay can have a cascading impact on construction schedules.
AI-powered optimisation tools enable project managers to simulate different supply chain scenarios, test workforce approaches, and develop contingency plans. By aligning the arrival of materials with on-site needs, AI helps mitigate costly delays and keeps projects moving forward.
A changing nuclear sector
The nuclear industry is also changing with growing interest in small modular reactors and more flexible designs that promise quicker build times and more localised deployment.
However, the underlying challenges, long project durations, specialist workforce requirements and complex procurement, remain constant. AI cannot remove these issues overnight, but it can help teams understand the time and cost implications of their decisions, enabling them to make more informed and strategic choices.
AI allows teams to consider every possible way to build or decommission a site from day one. That flexibility is essential in a sector where so many variables are outside your control.
As the nuclear sector embraces new technologies and the need for reliable baseload power grows, AI-driven planning is becoming essential to delivering complex projects on time and budget while upholding the highest safety and quality standards.
Now is the time for the nuclear industry to explore how AI can transform project delivery.
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