Inside DOE’s Effort to Use AI for Nuclear Waste Cleanup

Artificial intelligence is helping transform how the Energy Department approaches one of its most complex challenges: cleaning up nuclear waste.

At the 2026 SCSP AI+Expo, Savannah River National Laboratory Associate Laboratory Director for Environmental and Legacy Management Eric Pierce discussed how the lab is applying AI to improve environmental monitoring, reduce costs and accelerate cleanup efforts across the Savannah River Site, an industrial area around South Caroline and Georgia.

Pierce highlighted the lab’s Advanced Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Systems (ALTEMIS), which uses AI to predict contaminated groundwater plume movement. The technology has reduced monitoring requirements from quarterly sampling across 2,000 wells to a single annual verification sample, significantly lowering costs while maintaining confidence in environmental safety.

He also discussed the lab’s AI Accelerated Strategies and Solutions in Environmental Technology (AI-ASSET) initiative, which builds on ALTEMIS by collecting real-time, AI-ready environmental data. Currently, roughly 30% to 40% of the site’s data is prepared for AI applications. Pierce also explained how the lab is working with industry and government partners to modernize the remaining data and expand the use of AI-driven environmental cleanup technologies.