Pacific Gas & Electric deploys nuclear sector on-site genAI solution

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has launched the deployment of an on-site generative AI solution for data retrieval at its Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

PG&E is deploying Atomic Canyon's AI-powered solutions developed for the nuclear energy sector in what is declared as the first commercial on-site generative AI deployment at a US nuclear power plant.

Atomic Canyon's Neutron Enterprise generative AI solution is built and run on NVIDIA's full-stack AI platform, with its FERMI family of AI models developed in collaboration with the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Its deployment at Diablo Canyon is aimed to transform document search and retrieval, and thereby deliver significant cost savings and improved operational efficiency.

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"As the first nuclear power plant to implement Neutron Enterprise using the NVIDIA platform, we're proud to lead the way in bringing cutting-edge innovation to our operations,” says Maureen Zawalick, VP of Business and Technical Services at PG&E's Diablo Canyon Power Plant.

“Atomic Canyon's AI solutions will enable faster data retrieval, boosting collaboration and ensuring continued safe, but more efficient operations. Accessing critical information in seconds will let us focus on what truly matters – delivering reliable clean energy safely and affordably."

Diablo Canyon, California's only remaining nuclear power plant, provides almost 9% of the state's electricity and generates 17% of its zero-carbon energy.

With the California Energy Commission estimating that power demand across the state will rise roughly 43% in the next 15 years, Diablo Canyon is set to become a more critical clean, reliable energy asset.

Under federal and state regulations, utilities that operate nuclear power plants are required to manage billions of pages of technical documentation, which are spread across multiple systems.

Data retrieval can thus be both time consuming and costly in terms of manpower, both of which the Neutron Enterprise solution should overcome.

The solution should integrate seamlessly with Diablo Canyon's systems, using the latest optical character recognition, retrieval-augmented generation and AI-powered search technology to cut search times from hours to seconds.

Teams will be able to access critical information faster and more reliably, allowing them to focus on high-value tasks and decision-making.

The Neutron Enterprise solution has been specifically designed for the nuclear energy sector for facilities to access, draft and collaborate on critical documentation.