Automating Nuclear Plant Operations: Lauren Fortier’s Vision for Future Clean Energy

Revolutionizing Nuclear Power Through Automation

The central development is this: As the world seeks sustainable and reliable clean energy sources, nuclear power consistently emerges as a powerful contender. However, its widespread adoption hinges on making it more economical and efficient to produce.

Enter Lauren Fortier, a driven second-year doctoral student in MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, who is at the forefront of this transformation. Fortier is developing groundbreaking remote operation protocols for autonomous control of nuclear plants, aiming to unlock their full potential.

From Naval Operations to Academic Innovation

Meanwhile, Fortier’s journey into nuclear engineering began in a unique and high-stakes environment. After earning her undergraduate degree in materials science and engineering from Northwestern University on an ROTC scholarship, she served as a naval nuclear operator.

Her posting on a U.S. aircraft carrier in the South China Sea gave her firsthand experience with the immense responsibility and complete reliance on nuclear power.

“It was a unique experience that you don’t easily see anywhere else, especially the complete reliance on nuclear power. The only way you’re moving through the ocean is if you have that nuclear reactor working,” Fortier recalls.

This intense operational experience ignited her passion for the science behind plant operations but also highlighted significant shortcomings: the extreme manual intensity of many procedures. This observation sparked a critical question: Could these operations be less reliant on human intervention?

In practical terms, Transitioning from the operational realm, Fortier pursued a master’s degree in nuclear engineering at MIT, building on her overwhelmingly positive experiences. Her rigorous Navy training proved invaluable, preparing her for the academic challenges at MIT. For her master’s research, she developed a supervisory control system for nuclear plant operations, utilizing a simulator to test her concepts.

The Challenge: Economical Nuclear Power for the Future

Fortier’s master’s research revealed that much more work was needed to achieve truly autonomous nuclear operations. The future of nuclear power, she believes, lies partly in smaller, distributed plants — microreactors — often located in rural or remote areas. While legacy plants can justify large human staffs due to their 100% capacity operation, microreactors cannot afford such extensive personnel.

For example, This disparity underscores the necessity for supervised and thoroughly vetted autonomous operations. A primary question emerged: “How do we transition to autonomous operations in nuclear power plants?” Fortier envisioned an integrated, central supervisory control system, moving away from fragmented, interlinked parts. The challenge lay in adapting human-centric procedures to seamlessly include machines.

Fortier recognized that any supervisory control system would be limited if it couldn’t flexibly accommodate both humans and machines. Instead of rigid, human-defined procedures, she proposes a model where humans and computers collaborate, each performing what they do best, with strategic human intervention only when truly necessary.

The Power of Collaboration: MIT and Beyond

That said, The ambitious scope of Fortier’s vision naturally led her to pursue a doctorate. At MIT, she discovered the immense power of interdisciplinary collaboration. Her research advisor, Sacit Cetiner, holds a joint appointment with MIT NSE and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), facilitating crucial partnerships.

To tackle the human-machine interface challenge, Fortier collaborated with Katya Le Blanc, a senior human factors scientist at INL, and the Human System Simulation Laboratory at INL. This partnership provided invaluable insights into designing cyber-physical systems and understanding human behavior in complex operational environments. Fortier notes:

“I’m very much an engineer and don’t have a lot of experience in human behavior, so the collaboration with INL was a huge benefit for me. I got better insights into many aspects, including what you want to see when a human has to take over for a machine when it’s no longer working.”

Interestingly, Her work also extended to industry, with a summer internship at Westinghouse, a leading nuclear plant design organization. This experience allowed her to test and refine her ideas about autonomous solutions in a practical setting.

Academically, Fortier benefited from the expertise of her co-advisors: Anuradha Annaswamy, a control systems expert and director of the Active-Adaptive Control Laboratory, who provides critical guidance on supervisory control system framework and execution; and Curtis Smith, KEPCO Professor of the Practice of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT NSE, who brings regulatory and safety research experience.

A Transparent Path to Autonomous Control

However, Fortier emphasizes that the operational systems she designs prioritize a gradual, systematic progression toward autonomy, essential for building user trust. Her doctoral work focuses on objective-oriented operations, where a control system can dynamically generate the necessary sequence of events to achieve a goal, rather than rigidly following a predetermined procedure.

Crucially, Fortier’s automation is based on finite state automata. Unlike AI or machine learning, this method offers transparency in its execution. As a discrete event system, every action in the automation framework is event-driven – “if this happens, do that” – allowing it to clearly adjust for current plant conditions and transition between states. This conventional automation approach addresses complex problems with clarity and predictability.

“We’re not using a data-driven statistical approach like machine learning because we do not yet have the tools to validate the operation of such systems,” Fortier explains, highlighting the importance of verifiable safety in nuclear applications.

Paving the Way for Next-Generation Nuclear

Meanwhile, Fortier’s pioneering work has already garnered significant recognition, including being a winner of the 2025 Innovations in Nuclear Energy Research and Development Student Competition from the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program. Her efforts are poised to deliver crucial momentum for the development and deployment of commercial microreactors.

The immediate next steps involve scaling her supervisory control system, applying insights from focused control aspects to broader applications. Fortier remains enthusiastic about the future, crediting the strong collaborations and stakeholder relationships for making her work impactful and relevant. The outside perspectives, she notes, are invaluable when navigating such complex challenges.

Expert Perspective

From an industry angle, the clearest signal around nuclear plant automation is how it may influence nuclear. The story reads less like a one-day spike and more like a marker of broader movement.

The next phase will depend on how quickly teams, regulators, or customers react. In practice, that gives nuclear plant automation room to reshape expectations across fortier over the near term.

For readers focused on practical impact, the best next step is to watch what changes around human once attention turns into execution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does nuclear plant automation matter right now?

Revolutionizing Nuclear Power Through AutomationThe central development is this: As the world seeks sustainable and reliable clean energy sources, nuclear power consistently emerges as a powerful contender.

What broader change could nuclear plant automation signal?

However, its widespread adoption hinges on making it more economical and efficient to produce.Enter Lauren Fortier, a driven second-year doctoral student in MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, who is at the forefront of this transformation.

What should the market watch next around nuclear plant automation?

Fortier is developing groundbreaking remote operation protocols for autonomous control of nuclear plants, aiming to unlock their full potential.From Naval Operations to Academic InnovationMeanwhile, Fortier’s journey into nuclear engineering began in a unique and high-stakes environment.

Source: https://news.mit.edu/2026/working-automate-nuclear-plant-operations-lauren-fortier-0724