Trained on millions of digitized documents from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Neutron modernizes regulatory compliance processes and optimizes workflows
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Today, Atomic Canyon unveiled the company and Neutron, their custom-built AI search platform for the nuclear energy sector. Designed to improve efficiency, modernize the regulatory approval process and streamline workflows, Neutron, trained on millions of pages of documents from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), marks a pivotal step in advanced AI search capabilities. Beginning with Neutron, Atomic Canyon envisions empowering a “nuclear regulatory renaissance” – a new era of nuclear innovation fueled by AI and a more efficient data navigation process.
“Transitioning to clean, reliable energy is the most important issue of our time. We are in a ‘do-or-die’ moment,” said CEO and Founder Trey Lauderdale. “Recognizing the pivotal role of nuclear energy in achieving this transition, Neutron reduces search time from days to minutes, which will improve operations and workflows – and, in turn, drive growth and innovation in the nuclear energy sector. At Atomic Canyon, we believe AI is essential to nuclear energy, and vice versa, as we move toward a more sustainable future.”
At a time of renewed support in the US and worldwide for nuclear energy, Atomic Canyon aims to facilitate a better, cleaner, safer nuclear future. According to a 2023 study by the Pew Research Center, 57% of Americans “favor more nuclear power plants to generate electricity, up from 43% in 2020.” Bi-partisan support for bill H.R. 6544, the Atomic Energy Advancement Act and the COP28 Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy in December 2023 reflect growing global recognition of the importance of nuclear energy in reaching Net Zero and mitigating the impact of the climate crisis.
Currently supplying about 20% of US electricity, nuclear power has the lowest lifecycle emissions of any major generating source” and “operates at full power 92% of the time,” making it indispensable to any decarbonization strategy. With this in mind, Atomic Canyon designed Neutron to help address inefficiencies in the nuclear sector.
Neutron uses AI-powered search, trained on all 52 million pages from the NRC’s Agency-wide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) database. Despite ADAMS offering access to millions of publicly available documents for nuclear facilities, the process of addressing NRC requests and obtaining regulatory approvals is currently cumbersome. Cutting search time by orders of magnitude, Neutron identifies and streamlines patterns and processes, leading to renewed growth in the nuclear sector.
Reflecting on the challenges and opportunities in the sector, Lauderdale shares, “I got my start in healthcare, and there are definite parallels with nuclear energy, which – for good reason – is far more regulated than any other industry in the US. Both systems are slow to change, both systems produce large amounts of sensitive information and both systems must adapt to meet the need for far greater capacity. I brought a new perspective to healthcare. With Atomic Canyon, I look forward to bringing a new perspective to nuclear energy.”
For more information or to see a demo of Neutron, please visit www.atomic-canyon.com.
About Atomic Canyon
AI powers the future at Atomic Canyon. Atomic Canyon’s advanced AI platform modernizes solutions across the nuclear energy sector, starting with Neutron—simplifying pages of documentation, enhancing Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) data access and unlocking workflow efficiency. Utilizing the NRC’s extensive library, the AI is a knowledgeable navigator, making data more accessible and promoting industry knowledge-sharing.
Atomic Canyon was founded by CEO Trey Lauderdale (previously CEO and Founder of Voalte, acquired for $180m) and Co-Founder and Chief AI Architect Kristian Kielhofner (previously CTO of Star 2 Star Communications, acquired for $437m). Their vision is to lead in AI-driven cost efficiencies for the nuclear energy sector.
Atomic Canyon’s AI application is designed for use in and by nuclear power plants, manufacturers of next-generation reactors and government and national laboratories.