In a major move for clean energy, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and NVIDIA have teamed up to use artificial intelligence to build nuclear reactors faster and cheaper. The partnership falls under the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission and focuses on a project called Prometheus. The goal is to get commercial nuclear reactors online in years instead of decades.
Prometheus aims to cut deployment timelines by at least half and reduce operating costs by more than 50 percent. Experts say electricity demand could reportedly double by 2030, largely because of AI-powered data centers. Nuclear energy’s been seen as a strong solution, since it provides steady, reliable baseload power around the clock.
Nuclear power could meet surging electricity demand — and AI may be the key to building reactors faster than ever.
The partnership uses AI tools like generative AI, agentic workflows, and digital twins. These technologies help speed up every stage of a reactor’s life, from design and licensing to construction and operation. INL’s existing simulation codes, including MOOSE, BISON, Pronghorn, and Griffin, are being upgraded to run on NVIDIA’s GPU hardware. That’ll make simulations faster and more accurate.
Humans stay involved throughout the process. The partnership’s built around what’s called a human-in-the-loop approach, meaning people review and guide AI decisions at every step. This is meant to reduce errors and keep operations safe.
The DOE’s Genesis Mission launched in November 2025 through Executive Order 14363. It brought together 26 science and technology challenges, with Prometheus being one of them. The DOE reportedly invested roughly $320 million into AI capabilities and signed agreements with companies like NVIDIA, AWS, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, among others. INL, Oak Ridge, and Argonne national labs are all involved. NVIDIA also signed a memorandum of understanding with Argonne National Laboratory to leverage AI and high-performance computing to address energy and national security challenges.
INL’s on-site reactors, including NRAD and the MARVEL reactor expected to be operational by late 2027, will help validate the AI models using real data. The partnership also plans to provide guidance to regulatory entities on autonomous and digital nuclear capabilities to help modernize oversight of advanced reactor technologies. Advanced reactor designs being developed under this initiative also incorporate passive safety systems that significantly reduce the likelihood of meltdowns compared to older generation technology.
INL Director John Wagner said the initiative represents a transformative approach to delivering nuclear energy at speed and scale. NVIDIA’s John Josephakis said combining INL’s expertise with NVIDIA’s AI could lead to reactors that are faster, safer, and cheaper to build and run.
References
- https://www.executivegov.com/articles/inl-nvidia-ai-nuclear-genesis-prometheus
- https://www.ans.org/news/article-7774/inl-teams-with-nvidia-in-prometheus-project-to-accelerate-nuclear-deployment/
- https://www.neimagazine.com/news/inl-nvidia-join-nuclear-ai-project/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0ApVUyhWcg
- https://inl.gov/news-release/idaho-national-laboratory-to-accelerate-nuclear-energy-deployment-with-nvidia-ai-through-the-genesis-mission/
- https://www.nucnet.org/news/inl-and-nvidia-join-forces-to-accelerate-deployment-of-advanced-reactors-using-ai-2-4-2026
