May 8, 2026
Report

Draft Feasibility Assessment for Use of AI in Preparing Transportation Safety Analysis Reports

Abstract

Preparing transportation safety analysis reports for microreactors is time and labor intensive, requiring extensive cross referencing to Federal regulations, previously approved documents, and expert review comments across structural, thermal, criticality, shielding, containment, and security. These burdens are magnified by the novelty of microreactor technologies and the evolving regulatory landscape, as well as current workforce constraints. Generative AI and supporting machine learning tools present an opportunity to accelerate drafting timelines, lift generalized writing burdens, and systematically enforce regulatory adherence through retrieval augmented generation and other knowledge retrieval and mapping methods. This draft report presents a preliminary feasibility assessment of the use of AI to expedite the preparation of microreactor transportation safety analysis reports and proposes an initial methodology for doing so.

Published: May 8, 2026

Citation

Carpenter-Graffy D.E., and S.J. Maheras. 2026. Draft Feasibility Assessment for Use of AI in Preparing Transportation Safety Analysis Reports Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Research topics