How artificial intelligence is making nuclear reactors safer

Engineers at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana are developing a new system for keeping nuclear reactors safe with artificial intelligence (AI). In the paper published in the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics journal, the researchers introduced a deep learning framework called a naïve Bayes-convolutional neural network that can effectively identify cracks in reactors by analyzing individual video frames. The method could potentially make safety inspections safer. "Regular inspection of nuclear power plant components is important to guarantee safe operations," Mohammad Jahanshahi, an assistant professor at Purdue's Lyles School of Civil Engineering, said in a press release. "However, current practice is time-consuming, tedious, and subjective and involves human technicians reviewing inspection videos to identify cracks in reactors."