When Jerrold Vincent and Brad Fox launched their startup Nuclearn in 2021, the nuclear power industry was in need of a jolt.
Nuclear energy generation in the U.S. had declined for the second consecutive year, driven by the closure of aging nuclear reactors and ongoing economic pressures from cheap natural gas and competitive wholesale power markets.
“There wasn't this broader electricity demand growth, and at that time, public support for nuclear wasn't as positive as it is today,” Vincent said.
Nuclearn’s cofounders, however, saw an industry ripe for disruption and created a platform that leverages artificial intelligence to automate operations, engineering and compliance workflows at nuclear power plants.
“But we definitely didn't anticipate how quickly and broadly nuclear as a sector was going to grow over the next five years,” Vincent said.
Fast forward to 2026, and Nuclearn’s software is deployed in more than 65 nuclear plants worldwide. The Phoenix company is poised to increase that number with industry growth on the horizon due to the proliferation of data centers, industrial and advanced manufacturing developments and AI.
In Arizona, the three largest utilities – Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power – are scouting new nuclear power locations throughout the state and a preliminary study is already underway.
Read more of this story from the Business Journal.
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