Palantir and The Nuclear Company (TNC) want to build nuclear power plants using AI together

Palantir, a security software provider, and The Nuclear Company (TNC) plan to work together on a platform to simplify the construction of nuclear reactors. The partnership aims to develop and deploy an AI-driven real-time software system called NOS (Nuclear Operating System), specifically designed for the construction of nuclear facilities. TNC aims to build a fleet of power plants with a capacity of 6 gigawatts by the mid-2030s. The company is focusing on large-scale facilities, distinguishing itself from rival startups that are betting on smaller modular reactors (SMRs). Google, for example, plans to include these SMRs as part of the energy portfolio for its data centers.

TNC sees data centers, in particular, as potential customers for this energy. Jonathan Webb, the founder and CEO of The Nuclear Company, emphasizes that his company’s mission is to build nuclear power plants as quickly, safely, and on a scale as America once did with its largest infrastructure projects. He highlighted that nuclear energy is not just an energy issue but a national security necessity to secure American leadership in this field and end delays. However, he did not address whether AI can also help answer the still unresolved question of nuclear waste disposal.

The new NOS software will be built on Palantir’s flagship platform, Foundry, and is designed to address a long-standing problem in the nuclear industry: the fact that the construction of nuclear power plants almost invariably exceeds budgets and timelines. The platform is intended to provide construction teams with real-time data, such as the availability of components and materials, deliver weather reports, track material shortages and lost documents, and initiate backup options in case of problems. To further increase efficiency, large language models will be used to review tens of thousands of documents.

Additionally, AI agents trained on regulatory requirements will be used to automatically validate data collected on construction sites. Furthermore, sensors will be installed on the construction sites to transmit data in real-time to a digital twin model of the plant. As part of this collaboration, Palantir will dispatch its own engineering team to work closely with employees of The Nuclear Company.

For the development of the platform, TNC will pay Palantir around $100 million over the next five years. Mike Gallagher, head of Palantir’s defense division, emphasized the importance of this partnership, stating that the future of energy security and sovereignty will largely depend on how quickly advanced technologies can be deployed at scale.

Palantir is known for developing technologies for both the U.S. military and private companies and maintains cloud partnerships with Microsoft and Oracle. Palantir’s software is also used in Germany, for example, by the state police in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and Bavaria. However, the use of the software in Germany is controversial because the company is headquartered in the U.S. Additionally, the software is not open source; the program code is secret. Therefore, it is unclear how the data is processed and what happens to it.