Japan exploring whether AI could help inspect its nuclear power plants
(2025/08/28)
- Reference: 1756350007
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/08/28/japan_ai_for_nuclear_inspectiona/
- Source link:
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority has requested extra funds to experiment with AI-powered nuclear plant inspectors.
Japanese media [1]report that the authority wants to explore AI inspection because many nuclear plants operated by Japanese energy companies are already old and will likely need more oversight as they continue operating.
Decommissioning those plants will also create a need for extra supervision.
[2]
The regulator reportedly said it doesn’t have sufficient staff to handle the inspections needed for extended operations and decommissioning of old plants.
[3]
[4]
It therefore wants to investigate whether AI can do some of the job.
Another role for AI could be to inspect the new plants that Japanese energy companies plan to replace their older facilities. The regulator expects that next wave of plants will use new designs it has never inspected, so perhaps AI can help it prepare.
[5]
It is unclear what role the regulator imagines AI will play in nuclear inspection, but highly-regulated industries such as nuclear power produce huge quantities of data and documentation. AI could conceivably spot anomalies in that information and advise human inspectors where best to focus their attention.
[6]Not big in Japan: Apple's WebKit browser requirement may break new law
[7]Germany and Japan teamed their ISS robots for seek-and-photograph mission
[8]Japan discovers object out beyond Pluto that rewrites the Planet 9 theory
[9]Japan’s Fugaku supercomputer follow-up adds Nvidia GPUs
Letting AI anywhere near the controls of a power plant is presumably out of the question, because such facilities are typically air-gapped and operate under procedures that require careful verification of every significant action. AI, of course, can also make mistakes. At a nuclear power plant, those could be catastrophic.
And Japan has recent experience of mistakes at a nuclear power plant: Investigations into the 2011 incident at Fukushima Daiichi declared it was a man-made disaster caused by failure to properly consider risks, lax regulation, and poor communication.
Any AI will surely therefore have to pass tests that would challenge even mighty Godzilla, the radiation-created monster that gave anxiety about nuclear energy a prominent place in Japanese popular culture. ®
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[1] https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250827/k10014904131000.html
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aK_UWN7OWsXPNMCfV7I4QwAAAQ8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/06/apples_webkit_rule_japan/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/05/germany_and_japan_teamed_their/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/asia_in_brief/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/22/fugakunext_riken_nvidia_gpus/
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Japanese media [1]report that the authority wants to explore AI inspection because many nuclear plants operated by Japanese energy companies are already old and will likely need more oversight as they continue operating.
Decommissioning those plants will also create a need for extra supervision.
[2]
The regulator reportedly said it doesn’t have sufficient staff to handle the inspections needed for extended operations and decommissioning of old plants.
[3]
[4]
It therefore wants to investigate whether AI can do some of the job.
Another role for AI could be to inspect the new plants that Japanese energy companies plan to replace their older facilities. The regulator expects that next wave of plants will use new designs it has never inspected, so perhaps AI can help it prepare.
[5]
It is unclear what role the regulator imagines AI will play in nuclear inspection, but highly-regulated industries such as nuclear power produce huge quantities of data and documentation. AI could conceivably spot anomalies in that information and advise human inspectors where best to focus their attention.
[6]Not big in Japan: Apple's WebKit browser requirement may break new law
[7]Germany and Japan teamed their ISS robots for seek-and-photograph mission
[8]Japan discovers object out beyond Pluto that rewrites the Planet 9 theory
[9]Japan’s Fugaku supercomputer follow-up adds Nvidia GPUs
Letting AI anywhere near the controls of a power plant is presumably out of the question, because such facilities are typically air-gapped and operate under procedures that require careful verification of every significant action. AI, of course, can also make mistakes. At a nuclear power plant, those could be catastrophic.
And Japan has recent experience of mistakes at a nuclear power plant: Investigations into the 2011 incident at Fukushima Daiichi declared it was a man-made disaster caused by failure to properly consider risks, lax regulation, and poor communication.
Any AI will surely therefore have to pass tests that would challenge even mighty Godzilla, the radiation-created monster that gave anxiety about nuclear energy a prominent place in Japanese popular culture. ®
Get our [10]Tech Resources
[1] https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250827/k10014904131000.html
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aK_UWN7OWsXPNMCfV7I4QwAAAQ8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aK_UWN7OWsXPNMCfV7I4QwAAAQ8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aK_UWN7OWsXPNMCfV7I4QwAAAQ8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aK_UWN7OWsXPNMCfV7I4QwAAAQ8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/06/apples_webkit_rule_japan/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/05/germany_and_japan_teamed_their/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/asia_in_brief/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/22/fugakunext_riken_nvidia_gpus/
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/