From Months to Hours: Everstar's AI Is Ready to Transform Nuclear Licensing

Licensing has long been the first layer of nuclear’s cost structure — expensive, slow, and unpredictable. By crafting Last Energy’s environmental assessment for DOE’s fast-track reactor program, Everstar demonstrated that this barrier can be disrupted. What once required eight weeks of manual effort was completed in just one week, with the research and drafting delivered in hours through AI acceleration.

The Watershed Moment

For decades, paperwork has been one of nuclear’s greatest bottlenecks — millions of dollars in staff hours, months of back-and-forth, and risk of death by documentation. With Last Energy’s environmental assessment, Everstar proved that AI can:

• Collapse months of research and drafting into days
• Turn weeks of rework into overnight updates
• Deliver outputs that accelerate regulatory approvals

This is more than faster licensing. It’s the first proof that AI can reshape nuclear’s cost structure — layer by layer.

The Challenge

• Last Energy, one of a handful of companies selected for DOE’s pilot program, faced national visibility and an immovable July 4, 2026, deadline.
• They needed a 50-page environmental assessment — typically an 8-week lift.
• The DOE itself lacked a clear playbook, making Last Energy’s submission precedent-setting.

“This is why AI is a game changer: condensing the noise down to what matters very quickly is huge.”
Adam Lenarz, VP of Development, Last Energy

Our Approach

Everstar applied its proprietary Gordian Compliance Engine, built specifically for nuclear licensing. The workflow was structured into three high-level phases:

• Preparation → Aligning on precedent, regulatory expectations, and Last Energy’s unique style requirements to ensure DOE-readiness from the start.
• Research & Drafting → Understanding hundreds of pages of inputs and research into a structured, sourced draft in hours.
• Review & Iteration → Using human expertise to guide refinements, with the system able to integrate new inputs and regenerate sections overnight.

The Results

• Time compression: 8 weeks → 1 week
• AI acceleration: research and writing in hours, vs. months of manual work
• Rework cycles collapsed:
• • Example: Last Energy delivered a 200-page ecology report the night before deadline.
  • Everstar’s system integrated all downstream changes overnight — a revision that would normally take weeks.
• DOE-friendly: concise, transparent, structured for rapid review.

“It would have taken a week or two extract and summarize what matters, and with Everstar’s direction the AI did it overnight.”
Francesco Tassi, Last Energy

Trust Built In

• Transparent: every claim tied to a source
• Audit-ready: gaps flagged, not hidden
• Human-in-the-loop: Last Energy’s licensing team owned the final output, with AI accelerating the heavy lifts

“Nobody’s going to just trust a report that’s compiled by an AI—but with the right quality control, you get all the benefits without the risk.”
Adam Lenarz, Last Energy

A Playbook for the Industry

Key Lessons for Developers and Regulators:

1. System setup is critical — up-front structure makes iteration lightning fast.
2. Human ownership is essential — AI accelerates, but doesn’t replace judgment.
3. Process clarity builds trust — defining roles for AI vs. human reviewers ensures audit-readiness.
4. Scalability is real — the same playbook can be applied across license renewals, power uprates, combined license applications, early site permits, and more.

About Everstar

Everstar is building the AI operating system for nuclear licensing and compliance. By combining nuclear expertise with advanced AI systems, Everstar enables developers, utilities, and regulators to accelerate approvals, reduce costs, and bring energy abundance closer.

Next Steps

If you face immovable deadlines, shifting requirements, and regulators who need clarity without fluff, Everstar can help you:

• Collapse months of research and drafting into days
• Turn weeks of rework into instant updates
• Deliver outputs that accelerate approvals

Contact us today at hello@everstar.ai.