NRC seeks research foundation for AI regulation in nuclear plants

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is looking for a contractor to help lay down groundwork for how the agency will manage the use of artificial intelligence in nuclear power plants.

NRC released a final solicitation on Tuesday for a contract being called Cybersecurity of Novel Technology Implementations in Operating and New/Advanced Reactors Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

In creating this contract, NRC is recognizing the growing use of AI at power plants and the risk that creates.

“The use of AI/ML technologies in operating and new/advanced reactors will potentially require new cybersecurity regulatory guidance and new technical basis to support that guidance,” NRC writes in the solicitation.

Under the contract, the agency wants a contractor to take an inventory on how AI is used or planned to be used. A second key task area will be to analyze how AI creates specific cybersecurity risks and map them against the NRC’s Regulatory Guide 5.71 to identify gaps.

Nuclear power plants use both digital and analog systems to monitor, operate, control and protect the facilities.

“There is an increased interest in the use of digital assets to perform these functions as analog devices face obsolescence and supply concerns,” NRC writes. “While digital assets provide increased flexibility and performance, they have the potential to introduce cybersecurity issues.”

The contractor will develop a draft assessment framework and principles for evaluating AI implementations.

The contractor will also produce a report to guide the NRC on developing regulations and guidance.

NRC is managing this as a small business set-aside contract and has set a ceiling of $250,000.