On April 28, 2025, Utah took a bold and thoughtful step toward becoming a national leader in advanced nuclear energy. With a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the State of Utah and Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the state signaled its intent to deepen its role in research, development, and workforce advancement for next-generation nuclear technologies.
At Nuclearn, we are watching these initiatives closely and fully support what Utah, INL, and other regional stakeholders are building. Their work represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking, cross-sector collaboration the nuclear industry needs to thrive.
From our seat, this is more than a regional success story. It’s a blueprint for how U.S. states and national labs can help shape the resilient, secure energy infrastructure of tomorrow, with nuclear at its core.
Utah’s Vision: A Hub for Nuclear Innovation
The MOU, as covered by Utah News Dispatch, outlines a shared commitment to strengthening Utah’s nuclear capabilities through research, workforce training, and support for clean energy innovation. Central to this vision is the proposed Advanced Nuclear and Energy Institute—a collaborative platform that will engage the Utah System of Higher Education, the Utah Office of Energy Development, and the San Rafael Energy Research Center in Emery County.
This isn’t just a win for Utah. It’s a win for all of us working in nuclear. It reinforces that the future of clean, reliable energy depends on smart infrastructure, smart partnerships, and smarter tools to support nuclear professionals doing the hard work on the ground.
At Nuclearn, that’s where we come in.
We Support the Teams Powering Progress
While we’re not part of the Utah-INL agreement, our mission directly supports the kinds of work it will enable. Nuclearn was built by nuclear engineers—for nuclear engineers—with a clear purpose: to eliminate the inefficiencies and information silos that slow down the industry and create friction between teams.
We develop AI-powered software and analytics tools that help nuclear professionals work smarter, safer, and more effectively. Whether you’re optimizing outage schedules, managing corrective action programs, or generating reports for regulators, Nuclearn products are designed to meet you where you are—and support the systems that already work.
If Utah becomes a proving ground for emerging SMRs or advanced fuel cycles, those teams will need secure, fast, and traceable ways to manage their operations. That’s what Nuclearn delivers.
Why Initiatives Like Utah’s Matter
As Utah Governor Spencer Cox noted in the official announcement, this effort is about preparing for a future where nuclear energy helps meet both environmental and economic goals. And they’re not doing it alone. Idaho and Wyoming—two states with their own deep nuclear roots—are watching and advising, and INL’s involvement ensures that this initiative isn’t just regional, but part of a national dialogue on nuclear innovation.
From our perspective, initiatives like these matter because they reinforce three truths:
- The energy transition needs nuclear
As grids become more complex and renewables grow, baseload power from reliable nuclear sources will remain critical. Utah’s planning recognizes this and is building the institutional framework to support that future. - The nuclear workforce needs investment
A large share of today’s nuclear professionals are nearing retirement. Building a new generation of skilled engineers, operators, analysts, and technicians is non-negotiable. Utah’s inclusion of the higher education system is the right move. - The industry needs a scalable digital infrastructure
As new nuclear projects grow in complexity—particularly SMRs and microreactors, so too will the need for clean, auditable data pipelines and streamlined workflows. That’s where Nuclearn’s work becomes essential.
Building the Tools to Support a Nuclear Future
We’ve built Nuclearn with one goal in mind: to make the everyday tasks of nuclear professionals faster, easier, and more secure. That includes everything from automating repetitive documentation, to managing corrective actions to enabling outage teams to coordinate better across disciplines.
If Utah’s nuclear hub becomes a home for advanced reactor development, pilot deployments, or next-gen fuels testing, it’s the kind of environment where tools like ours can support meaningful progress.
And importantly, our platforms are Part 810-compliant, on-premise deployable, and purpose-built for high-security environments like national labs and regulated utilities. That’s why our products are already in use by some of the most security-conscious teams in the energy sector.
A Future We All Own
The work ahead in nuclear will take everyone—labs, utilities, state governments, federal agencies, startups, operators, and engineers. What Utah and INL are doing is setting the tone for what local-state-national collaboration in nuclear innovation can look like. And while Nuclearn isn’t at the table in this MOU, we’re certainly building the digital tools and knowledge support to help every team involved work more efficiently.
We’re cheering for their success, not just because it’s good for Utah, but because it’s good for the future of nuclear.
Final Thoughts: Progress We Believe In
The world is watching what comes next in nuclear. The demand is there. The urgency is there. And with projects like this taking root in places like Utah, the momentum is building.
At Nuclearn, we support this effort wholeheartedly. Our focus remains on enabling the engineers and decision-makers to leverage AI-powered tools for their projects.
We’re not just building software. We’re helping build the future of nuclear—one decision, one task, one outage at a time.
Let’s keep going.