The global pursuit of sustainable, carbon-free energy sources increasingly highlights nuclear power as a critical component of a diversified energy portfolio. However, for nuclear energy to achieve its full potential and become a widely adopted clean energy solution, it must overcome significant economic hurdles, primarily concerning its competitive pricing and cost-effective production. This challenge is precisely what Lauren Fortier, a second-year doctoral student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE), is actively addressing through her groundbreaking research into developing remote operation protocols for autonomous control of nuclear plants. Her work promises to reshape the operational paradigm of nuclear facilities, making them more economically viable and accessible, particularly for next-generation small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors.
Fortier’s unique trajectory into the realm of advanced nuclear engineering began far from the academic halls of MIT. After earning an undergraduate degree in materials science and engineering from Northwestern University, a pursuit she undertook on an ROTC scholarship, Fortier embarked on a pivotal career phase supervising nuclear plant operations aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier. This demanding role placed her deep in the South China Sea, where the vessel’s very mobility and functionality were entirely dependent on the continuous, flawless operation of its nuclear propulsion system. "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," she recounts, emphasizing the profound sense of responsibility and the critical nature of nuclear operations she experienced firsthand.
During her tenure as a naval nuclear operator, Fortier developed a deep appreciation for the intricate operational aspects of nuclear technology, meticulously learning the scientific principles underpinning plant functionality. This immersive experience, however, also brought to light inherent inefficiencies and process shortcomings. She observed that many plant operations were extraordinarily manually intensive, requiring significant human intervention and oversight. This realization sparked a fundamental question in her mind: could these processes be streamlined and made less reliant on constant human labor? This query would eventually form the bedrock of her academic and research endeavors.
From High-Stakes Operations to Academic Innovation
Around the time these ideas began to coalesce, the U.S. Navy presented Fortier with an opportunity to pursue a master’s degree from a curated list of approved disciplines. Recognizing a chance to build upon her extensive practical experience, Fortier opted for nuclear engineering at MIT, seeing it as a natural extension of her work. "My experiences in nuclear up until then had been overwhelmingly positive, so I thought I would build on them and move from the operations realm to the academic realm," Fortier explains. The rigorous training and disciplined environment of the Navy proved to be an invaluable preparation for the intense academic demands and intellectual challenges at MIT.
For her master’s degree, which she is slated to complete in 2025, Fortier delved into the development of a supervisory control system specifically designed for nuclear plant operations. Her research utilized a sophisticated simulator characterized by a strong thermal-hydraulic response, allowing for realistic testing scenarios. The underlying assumption was that the insights and lessons garnered from these simulations would directly translate into practical, real-world applications, paving the way for more efficient and robust control mechanisms in actual nuclear facilities. This foundational work laid the groundwork for her more ambitious doctoral research.
The Economic Imperative and the Dawn of Autonomous Nuclear Operations
While her master’s research provided crucial initial insights, it quickly became apparent that this was merely the beginning of a much larger, more complex endeavor. The future viability of nuclear power, particularly in the context of global energy demands and climate change mitigation, increasingly points towards the deployment of smaller, more flexible plants, such as SMRs and microreactors, potentially located in rural or remote areas. These advanced designs offer numerous advantages, including modular construction, reduced capital costs, and enhanced safety features. However, their widespread deployment hinges on addressing operational economics.
Traditional legacy nuclear power plants, operating at 100% capacity, justify their extensive staffing requirements through the massive power output they deliver. These facilities typically employ hundreds of highly trained personnel across shifts to manage operations, maintenance, and safety protocols. In contrast, the economic model for distributed microreactors, often operating at smaller scales and potentially in isolated locations, cannot sustain such a large human workforce. This is where supervised and thoroughly vetted autonomous operations become not just beneficial, but essential. Reducing the operational expenditure (OPEX) associated with staffing is a key driver for making these advanced reactor concepts competitive with other energy sources. Industry estimates suggest that automated microreactors could operate with a fraction of the staff required for conventional plants, significantly impacting their overall economic profile.
The central question guiding Fortier’s doctoral research became: "How do we transition to autonomous operations in nuclear power plants?" Her vision was not for a patchwork of interconnected automated parts, but for one integrated approach – a central supervisory control system capable of orchestrating complex operations. The inherent challenge lay in modifying existing operational frameworks, which were primarily designed for human execution, to seamlessly incorporate machine control. Fortier recognized that the scope and effectiveness of any supervisory control system would be severely limited if its design remained rigid and human-centric, failing to accommodate the capabilities of both humans and machines. "Because everything is human-centric, it doesn’t allow you to choose the best way to do a procedure," Fortier observes. Her innovative approach seeks to redefine this paradigm, envisioning a collaborative "tag-team" model where humans and computers leverage their respective strengths, with strategic human intervention deployed only when absolutely necessary, maximizing efficiency and safety.
MIT-Facilitated Collaborations: A Nexus of Expertise
The ambitious scope of designing truly autonomous nuclear operations extended far beyond a master’s thesis, making a doctorate a natural and necessary progression for Fortier. She has since continued her research toward a PhD, leveraging MIT’s unparalleled collaborative environment to tackle this multifaceted challenge.
A cornerstone of Fortier’s research is her collaboration with a diverse team of experts. Her primary research advisor, Sacit Cetiner, holds a joint appointment with MIT’s Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This dual affiliation provides a crucial bridge between academic research and practical application within a national laboratory setting. To address the intricate human-machine interface challenges inherent in devising an effective and easily adopted autonomous supervisory control system, Fortier partnered with Katya Le Blanc, a senior human factors scientist at INL. This collaboration proved instrumental, as Fortier, primarily an engineer, gained invaluable insights into human behavior and interaction with complex systems. Furthermore, a partnership with the Human System Simulation Laboratory at INL enhanced Fortier’s understanding of designing robust cyber-physical systems that integrate computational and physical components seamlessly. "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," Fortier emphasizes, highlighting the critical role of human factors in ensuring safety during automated operations.
Beyond academic and national lab collaborations, Fortier actively engaged with industry leaders. She completed a summer internship in 2025 with Westinghouse, a prominent design organization and vendor for both current and next-generation nuclear power plants. This practical experience allowed her to test and refine her ideas regarding autonomous operations solutions within a real-world industrial context, ensuring her theoretical frameworks possessed practical applicability and industry relevance.
Within MIT, Fortier benefits from the guidance of other leading experts. Anuradha Annaswamy, a founder and director of the Active-Adaptive Control Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, serves as one of Fortier’s co-advisors. Annaswamy, a renowned control systems expert, provides crucial guidance on the theoretical underpinnings of supervisory control system frameworks and their execution. "She’s a control systems expert, which really benefits me because while I can explain what to do with a nuclear power plant, she can help me understand better how to go about operations from a control systems perspective," Fortier notes. This interdisciplinary mentorship is complemented by Curtis Smith, the former director for INL’s Nuclear Safety and Regulatory Research Division and currently the KEPCO Professor of the Practice of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT NSE, who acts as Fortier’s other co-advisor, offering expertise in nuclear safety and regulatory research. Fortier has also been diligently taking control systems-related classes to further solidify her foundational knowledge in the discipline.
A Step-by-Step Progression Toward Transparent Autonomy
Crucially, Fortier clarifies that the operational systems she is designing are engineered to incorporate a gradual and systematic move toward autonomy. This incremental approach is vital for building trust with users and operators, ensuring a smooth transition rather than an abrupt overhaul. "When we introduce an automated procedure that walks you step by step through what you would be doing anyway, it is reassuring and builds trust," Fortier points out. Her doctoral work focuses on incorporating objective-oriented operations, where a control system can intelligently generate the sequence of events required to achieve a specific objective, rather than rigidly adhering to a predetermined, static operating procedure. This adaptive capability represents a significant leap forward in operational flexibility and responsiveness.
Another key aspect that underpins the trustworthiness and reliability of Fortier’s approach is her reliance on a process called finite state automata. Unlike complex, "black box" AI or machine learning algorithms, finite state automata offer unparalleled transparency in their execution. This discrete event system, which Fortier extensively studied during an internship at INL in summer 2024, operates on clear, event-driven logic: "if this happens, do that." This means every move within the automation framework is explicitly triggered by a specific event or condition, allowing the system to adjust dynamically to current plant conditions and transition between various operational states with complete clarity and predictability. This approach addresses complex problems through conventional automation, deliberately avoiding AI-driven methods where validation and verification tools for safety-critical systems are still in nascent stages. "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 states, underscoring the paramount importance of verifiable safety in nuclear applications. The transparency of finite state automata ensures that operators can always understand why the system is taking a particular action, fostering confidence and enabling effective human oversight or intervention when required.
Transformative Future Impact and Industry Recognition
The potential impact of Fortier’s work on developing automation for nuclear plants has already garnered significant recognition within the scientific and energy communities. Her innovative research earned her one of the prestigious 2025 Innovations in Nuclear Energy Research and Development Student Competition awards from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP). This accolade is a testament to the perceived value and transformative potential of her contributions. Furthermore, as a 2026–2027 MathWorks Engineering Fellow, Fortier will receive continued support and resources to advance her critical research, further cementing its importance in the field.
The successful implementation of such a nuclear plant automation program on next-generation equipment is poised to deliver the necessary traction for the widespread development and deployment of commercial microreactors. By significantly reducing the operational costs associated with staffing and improving overall efficiency, these automated systems can make microreactors economically competitive for a broader range of applications, including powering remote communities, industrial sites, and military bases where traditional energy infrastructure is lacking or unreliable. This shift could democratize access to clean, reliable energy, fostering economic development and energy independence in underserved regions globally.
The immediate next steps for Fortier’s research involve scaling the supervisory control system, building upon insights gained from her initial work on specific aspects of control. This iterative process of development, testing, and refinement is crucial for ensuring the robustness and adaptability of the system across diverse operational scenarios. Fortier expresses profound excitement about the path ahead and the myriad possibilities her research unlocks. "The collaborations with other people, and the relationships we have established with stakeholders, have really helped make an impact and supported the relevancy of the work," she reflects. "Sometimes when you’re stuck in your own bubble, that outside perspective is really useful." This collaborative spirit, combined with her deep practical experience and rigorous academic approach, positions Lauren Fortier at the forefront of a paradigm shift in nuclear energy, paving the way for a more economical, accessible, and sustainable nuclear future. Her work underscores a fundamental evolution in how we conceive, operate, and integrate nuclear power into the global energy landscape, moving towards a future where advanced reactors can contribute reliably and affordably to a decarbonized world.
