US Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) is deploying California-based Atomic Canyon’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions for the nuclear energy sector at its Diablo Canyon Power Plant. This marks the first commercial installation of on-site generative AI deployment at a US NPP.
Atomic Canyon’s Neutron Enterprise generative AI solution, built and running on NVIDIA’s full-stack AI platform, is being deployed at Diablo Canyon to transform document search and retrieval, and deliver significant cost savings and improved operational efficiency. PG&E says Neutron Enterprise sets a new standard for information access and analysis in the nuclear energy sector.
As California’s only remaining NPP, Diablo Canyon provides nearly 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 expected to become a reliable energy asset.
Federal and state regulations require utilities that operate nuclear power plants to manage billions of pages of technical documentation, which are spread across multiple systems. Power plant personnel must spend both time and resources to retrieve this essential data accurately and reliably.
Having access to Atomic Canyon’s Neutron Enterprise solution means Diablo Canyon will revolutionise its approach to managing these vast datasets. Neutron Enterprise will integrate seamlessly with Diablo Canyon’s systems, using the latest optical character recognition (OCR), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), 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.
Maureen Zawalick, Vice President of Business and Technical Services at Diablo Canyon Power Plant, said 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.”
The Neutron Enterprise solution is powered by Atomic Canyon’s FERMI family of AI models, developed in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and specifically designed for the nuclear energy sector. With FERMI’s domain expertise, Neutron Enterprise leverages cutting-edge generative AI and RAG to revolutionise how nuclear facilities access, draft, and collaborate on critical documentation.
Atomic Canyon Founder and CEO Trey Lauderdale said the commercial launch of ‘Neutron Enterprise’ at Diablo Canyon marks a pivotal moment for the nuclear energy sector. “With skyrocketing energy demands and increased support from tech leaders, we are witnessing the growing excitement and need for nuclear energy in real time. This is the future of nuclear plant operations, and we’re just scratching the surface.”
This uses NVIDIA’s full-stack AI computing platform, including NVIDIA AI Enterprise software, NVIDIA Triton Inference Server software and NVIDIA Hopper architecture Graphics processing units, which accelerate Atomic’s Neutron Enterprise solution. With billions of data points to process across multiple repositories in structured and unstructured formats, the nuclear industry can tap into NVIDIA AI and accelerated computing for more efficient workflows.
“AI is unlocking new possibilities in highly regulated industries like nuclear energy,” said Marc Spieler, Senior Managing Director of the Global Energy Industry at NVIDIA. “PG&E’s deployment of the Atomic Canyon solution, built with NVIDIA technologies, showcases how AI can contribute to increased operational efficiency by enabling utilities to focus on delivering critical services safely and effectively.”
Diablo Canyon’s two 1100 MWe Westinghouse-designed 4-loop pressurised water reactors were due to close in November 2024 and August 2025. In November 2023, PG&E submitted an operating licence renewal application to NRC for the two-unit plant. It sought to extend unit 1’s operating licence to November 2044, and unit 2’s to August 2045.
This came after California Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2022 signed a bill enabling the plant to continue in operation until 2030 to ensure energy system reliability and minimise greenhouse gas emissions until additional renewable and zero-carbon energy sources come online. The bill effectively agreed to lend PG&E $1.4bn and help with the process if the company would agree to change course and request a licence. In December 2023 the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) also agreed to an operating extension to 2030.
