Advanced Nuclear, the Official Podcast of UCAN Power Chris Ritter - Harnessing AI for Advanced Nuclear Innovation
In this episode of the Advanced Nuclear Podcast, Chris Ritter, a nationally-recognized leader in AI applications and the Director of the Digital Innovation Center of Excellence (DICE) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), explores how AI can enhance the design, licensing, and operation of nuclear technologies, particularly through the use of digital twins—virtual models that mirror physical assets. Chris shares his journey to INL, the establishment of DICE, the challenges and future prospects of AI supporting the nuclear industry, and the potential for significant improvements in reactor efficiency, remote operations, and licensing efficiency. The discussion also covers the use of multiple AI programs and the importance of human oversight in AI applications.
Chris Ritter is the division director of scientific computing & AI and director of the Digital Innovation Center of Excellence at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). His team of ~100 computational and data scientists are changing the world’s future with AI/ML, digital twinning, digital engineering, multi-physics, HPC, and digital thread technologies across a portfolio of nuclear energy, non-proliferation, semiconductor, and defense applications.
Chris founded INL's nationally leading digital engineering team which grew from 0 to over ~57 of the nation’s top researchers and developers in digital science. His team led the first nuclear reactor digital twin, built the Deep Lynx open digital thread platform, developed the first autonomous non-nuclear microreactor, and is actively building multiple petabyte-scale digital thread platforms. Additionally, he co-president of Newcomers in Leadership and Chief Digital Officer of SMART USA. Prior to INL, Chris co-founded and led development of the #1 cloud-native MBSE tool, Innoslate, used in 107 counties across 2,000 companies around the world.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to AI in Advanced Nuclear
02:00 Chris Ritter's Journey to INL
04:00 The Creation of DICE at INL
07:11 Understanding Digital Twins
10:49 Accuracy and Applications of Digital Twins
16:02 Future Work and Innovations in Digital Twins
18:06 Reducing Risk and Optimizing Performance with AI
22:37 Barriers to Entry in Nuclear Technology
23:38 Current State of AI Adoption in Nuclear
26:25 The Role of AI in Reactor Design
32:57 AI in Licensing and Regulatory Processes
36:34 Future of AI in Reactor Operations and Design
This podcast is brought to you by the United Coalition for Advanced Nuclear Power (UCAN Power) Homepage - UCAN Power - United Coalition for Advanced Nuclear Power