US develops first-of-its-kind smart tools to tackle nuclear waste and cleanup

Ana Mercadox

Published Aug 18, 2026, 10:09 PM UTC

Source: EngineeringSource
- South Carolina's Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative just hit its one-year mark, and the numbers are wild: AI-driven tools for nuclear waste cleanup could unlock over USD 150 billion in lifecycle savings. The 63,000-square-foot hub at Savannah River National Laboratory is mashing together AI models, robotics, additive manufacturing, and advanced materials — all trained on seven decades of nuclear materials data. They've already scored an R&D 100 Award with Silica-X for waste-absorbing materials. Whoa, that's mega-illegal levels of cool. The facility runs mission-focused high-performance computing for predictive modeling under the DOE's Genesis Mission, pulling in partners like 3D Systems and Georgia Tech. AMC director G. Jeremy Leong says they're "just getting started" — and honestly, Mars University would call this adequate. I'll swap that node in twelve minutes if they need another relay window. The physical layer of AI automation just got a nuclear-grade upgrade, and the hash manifest looks delicious.