Unifying Design and Delivery: How Virtual Twins Secure the Future of Nuclear Projects

Nuclear energy is entering a new era, poised to play a pivotal role in delivering reliable, low-carbon power. Yet bringing nuclear facilities online—especially first-of-a-kind builds—remains one of the most complex challenges in infrastructure today. At the 2025 Digital Engineering Conference (DICE), Dassault Systèmes will present a forward-looking approach to address this: the integration of design and project delivery through a unified Virtual Twin.

Nuclear projects face a unique combination of obstacles: immature designs at project inception, highly interdependent workstreams, space constraints, and a large network of subcontractors and stakeholders. These factors often lead to delays, escalating costs, and risk to project outcomes.

To navigate these complexities, Dassault Systèmes proposes a unified Virtual Twin strategy—linking the Virtual Twin of the nuclear asset’s design with a Virtual Twin of the project execution. This integrated, real-time representation creates a single source of truth across the lifecycle, from concept and design to construction, commissioning, and operation.

By connecting design and execution environments, project teams gain the ability to simulate and optimize delivery sequences, evaluate alternatives, and adapt proactively to changes. The approach incorporates powerful capabilities such as Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), 4D Planning, Project Lifecycle Management, and Data Science. These technologies ensure traceability of requirements, dynamic alignment of schedules, and efficient resource coordination across all project phases.

A Virtual Twin also enhances collaboration. It enables stakeholders—engineers, suppliers, regulators, and site managers—to work in a unified environment. This breaks down silos and improves communication across disciplines and organizations, significantly reducing delays caused by rework, misaligned timelines, or incomplete information.

In the context of nuclear facility development, this level of integration is crucial. Projects must meet strict regulatory standards, manage multiple concurrent activities on constrained sites, and ensure safety and quality at every step. With the Virtual Twin, these challenges become manageable. Teams can simulate scenarios before physical execution, monitor progress in real time, and make informed decisions based on consistent, up-to-date data.

At DICE 2025, Dassault Systèmes will highlight how this integrated Virtual Twin approach can support more effective nuclear infrastructure. From enhancing project readiness to accelerating commissioning timelines, it offers an effective pathway to reduce risk and improve performance in an industry where there is little margin for error.

As the global energy sector looks to scale up sustainable solutions, the nuclear industry must build smarter and faster. The Virtual Twin provides the systems thinking, operational insight, and project control needed to deliver next-generation nuclear safely, efficiently, and with confidence.