Oklo, a nuclear fission startup backed by Sam Altman, has signed a contract with the Department of Energy to advance development of the first commercial microreactor, a major step for the company as it aims to transform the nuclear industry with small, modular reactors that are less time-consuming and less expensive to build and operate than traditional nuclear power plants.
California-based Oklo told Newsweek it is working to build its first reactor at a desired site in Idaho.
“Our partnership with the Department of Energy is extremely beneficial,” Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitt said in announcing the company had received government approval to begin field work at the Idaho National Laboratory site in Idaho Falls.
“Signing this (Memorandum of Understanding) reflects our commitment to timely deployment and operational readiness, while also helping us control costs and maintain project schedules.”
Oklo has signed a contract with the Department of Energy to advance development of the first commercially available microreactor, a major step forward for the company as it aims to transform the nuclear energy industry with small modular reactors that take less time and money to build and operate than traditional nuclear power plants. Oklo has signed a contract with the Department of Energy to advance development of the first commercially available microreactor, a major step forward for the company as it aims to transform the nuclear energy industry with small modular reactors that take less time and money to build and operate than traditional nuclear power plants. Learn more about Oklo
Oklo, named after the Gabon region in Africa where spontaneous nuclear fission reactions occurred naturally about 1.7 billion years ago, went public in May. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman serves as the company’s chairman.
The startup is the only advanced nuclear fission company to receive a site permit from the Department of Energy, which initially granted Oklo a site permit in 2019, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected its initial application to build a microreactor in 2022.
The Idaho plan is set to break ground in 2026 and be operational a year later, but still must be approved by the NRC.
Oklo hopes to revolutionize the way nuclear reactors are currently built and operated by miniaturizing the reactor itself: Unlike current reactors, Oklo’s micro-reactor, which the company calls Aurora, would require just a couple of acres of land.
And unlike larger reactors, Aurora doesn’t need water as a coolant, which allows Oklo to significantly reduce costs and “leverage existing supply chains,” the company told Newsweek.
Current nuclear reactors use about 5 percent of the clean energy they emit, and about 95 percent of the energy is wasted, Oklo said.
Oklo aims to revolutionize the nuclear industry by developing scalable nuclear power plants based on liquid metal reactor technology, it told Newsweek. The startup will then sell the electricity generated by its Aurora microreactors directly to customers under long-term contracts rather than licensing agreements. This “relieves customers of the burden of having to build power plants to use the technology.” Oklo simply delivers the energy.
Oklo’s advance comes amid growing demand for nuclear energy to power the data centers and other infrastructure driving the rise of artificial intelligence. The company says the energy needs of AI companies are “still unimaginable,” requiring stable, sustainable electricity that rules out renewables and fossil fuels.
That’s why Microsoft is working to bring the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear reactor back online just to power its AI data center.
A rendering of Oklo’s first small nuclear reactor, Aurora. A rendering of Oklo’s first small nuclear reactor, Aurora. Oklo
Following the signing of the memorandum of understanding, Oklo will now intensify efforts to streamline the transition to construction and, assuming there are no delays to NRC approval, strive to complete the project on schedule, the company told Newsweek.
The company said the agreement will allow Oklo to focus on “geotechnical evaluations, environmental studies and infrastructure planning.”
In April, Oklo signed a non-binding letter of intent to collaborate on a 20-year power purchase agreement with Diamondback Energy to power shale oil operations in the Permian Basin.
The company also signed a non-binding letter of intent with Wyoming Hyperscale in May to collaborate on a 20-year power purchase agreement to supply 100 megawatts to a data center campus.
