Could AI and fusion be the answer to the EU’s debate over nuclear energy?

Members of the European Union are debating whether the future should involve renewable energy or nuclear energy. On Monday, March 4, France and 12 other nations signed a letter urging the EU to embrace nuclear energy while Germany championed the side of renewable energy, according to Reuters.

However, while countries within the EU remain split over renewable and nuclear energy, a new form of energy is emerging that is both. The alternative, known as nuclear fusion, uses the same energy as the sun, and it has been billed as the energy of the future.

France is supporting the nuclear energy of the present: atomic energy. According to worldnuclear.org, atomic energy supplies around 70% of the country’s power, and France is urging other countries to do the same. So far, a dozen countries have joined the push.

In a statement released Monday, the countries promoting the current form of nuclear energy asked other EU partners to recognize the importance of keeping nuclear energy innovations in the mix.

“This momentum must now be converted into a comprehensive and enabling European framework for nuclear development, exploring essential policies dimension and financing,” the letter read.

Part of the mix may involve artificial intelligence.

Egemen Kolemen, an associate professor at Princeton University’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, said that AI is already being used to fix instabilities before they happen in the experimental nuclear fusion process.

“The artificial intelligence system actively examines both historical data and current information, identifying any anomalies or changes. When it spots potential instabilities, it autonomously decides on and implements corrective actions to adjust the plasma. This ensures the fusion reactor operates at peak performance around the clock, without any interruptions to its operation”, explained Kolemen. 

France is home to an innovative nuclear fusion project known as Iter, or “the way” in Latin. The Fusion for Energy website touts the project as the “world’s biggest experiment on the path to fusion energy.”

It’s no coincidence that France is also a promoter of AI. Fusion energy and AI now go hand-in-hand. There’s just one problem. The EU may soon be home to some of the strictest AI regulations on the planet.

Governments of EU nations reportedly approved legislation in early February for the first set of laws to regulate artificial intelligence. Now, the law needs final approval by one of the EU’s three legislative branches, according to MIT Technology Review, which is expected to happen in April. The Artificial Intelligence Act would ban some AI uses and create rules for those deemed “high-risk.”

However, it’s unknown how the regulations will be enforced on AI’s role in fusion. Kolemen believes that one of the biggest hurdles nuclear fusion has is figuring out how it will be regulated once it is commercialized.

Kolemen said once perfected, nuclear fusion is an essentially limitless power source. He believes AI is crucial to unlocking fusion’s potential, and he predicts that fusion may be used to power electrical grids by the year 2050.

Kolemen contends that nuclear fusion technology would be safe enough to build right next to Manhattan without fear because there is no risk of meltdown, like atomic energy plants. According to Kolemen, the technology may also eliminate the problem of electrical blackouts.