Technical Meeting on the Deployment of Artificial Intelligence Solutions for the Nuclear Power Industry: Considerations and Guidance

Background

In July 2022, the IAEA organized a Consultancy Meeting (CM) with the key members from a working group of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Nuclear Power to discuss the near-term deployment of AI in nuclear power plants (NPPs) and to advise the IAEA on activities that would assist Member states experts.

The discussions during the meeting aimed to understand technological challenges, knowledge gaps, regulatory aspects, resources required via collaborative effort among Member States, and opportunities for the development, demonstration, and application of explainable AI in the nuclear power sector.

Several observations from the discussions led to developing a set of recommendations to guide the path forward:

• Recommendation 1: Engage stakeholders and experts to develop and issue a publication providing overall considerations and guidance on development and deployment of AI solutions for the nuclear industry.
• Recommendation 2: Establish an IAEA Collaborating Center on AI.
• Recommendation 3: Issue a user centric technical publication on AI methods and metrics.
• Recommendation 4: Engage regulators from all interested member states to facilitate alignment of country specific regulatory framework and capture this consensus in an appropriate publication of the Agency.
• Recommendation 5: Issue a publication on successful implementation of AI.
• Recommendation 6: Design and implement competitive benchmark exercises and privacy-preserving AI.

Recognizing the relevance of the above-mentioned recommendations, the CM working group advised to the IAEA that it should initiate relevant activities to address related challenges in the nuclear power engineering field.

In response, the IAEA is developing a new Nuclear Energy Series report provisionally entitled Deployment of Artificial Intelligence Solutions for the Nuclear Power Industry: Considerations and Guidance to provide guidance to Member States in this area.

Objectives

The purpose of the event is to finalize the new IAEA Technical Document entitled Deployment of Artificial Intelligence Solutions for the Nuclear Power Industry: Considerations and Guidance to provide implementation considerations for Member States interested in the deployment of artificial intelligence in nuclear power plants.

Target Audience

In view of the subject of the event, participation is limited to IAEA Member States that currently operate nuclear power plants (NPPs) or are constructing their first NPP units, Member States collaborating in the IAEA AI Working Group and Member States interested in developing an AI programme. Participation is solicited from representatives of nuclear facilities and regulatory bodies, utilities, technical support organizations, designers, developers, vendors, and research organizations and universities engaged in the field of design and application of AI at NPPs. To ensure maximum effectiveness in the exchange of information, participants should be persons actively involved in the subject matter of the event.

The event will allow for virtual participation via Microsoft Teams and is, in principle, open to all officially designated persons. The IAEA, however, reserves the right to limit participation due to limitations imposed by the available facilities. The maximum number of in-person participants for this event (excluding those from USA) is 100. It is therefore recommended that interested persons take the necessary steps to secure their official designation as early as possible.

Structure

The draft manuscript of the new IAEA Nuclear Energy Series report, provisionally entitled Deployment of Artificial Intelligence Solutions for the Nuclear Power Industry: Considerations and Guidance, will be provided to the participants prior to the event. This draft will serve as the basis for dialogues at the event. Participants will be requested to review selected parts of the document and to provide their remarks and comments.

Topics

Presentations are invited on all approaches related to the deployment of AI applications for the Nuclear Power Industry. The following list provides examples of presentation topics that would be appropriate for the event:

• AI benefits for existing and future NPPs; 
• Lessons learned from experience (case studies, operating experience, proven practices, etc.);
• Human-machine interactions issues and potential resolutions;
• Known challenges/shortcomings/failure modes of AI technologies related to AI deployment (challenges/obstructions to AI in NPPs);
• Generic acceptance guidelines and safety review;
• Safety and security challenges;
• AI lifecycle management; 
• Data governance; 
• AI regulatory considerations; 
• Categories – levels of autonomy and possible graded approach; 
• Explainability;
• Trustworthiness and Ethical uses of AI.  

Venue and Visas

The event will be held at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, USA.

Participants must make their own travel and accommodation arrangements.

Designated participants who require a visa to enter USA should submit the necessary application as soon as possible to the nearest diplomatic or consular representative of USA.

Key deadlines

5 January 2024: Deadline for submission of the Participation Form (Form A) and if applicable the Grant Application Form (Form C) through competent national authority (e.g., Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Mission to the IAEA or National Atomic Energy Authority) or international organization.

15 January 2024: Submission of presentation proposals to Scientific Secretary.