All posts tagged: Oklo

Oklo Lands DOE Plutonium Deal To Turn Surplus Material Into Bridge Fuel

Oklo Lands DOE Plutonium Deal To Turn Surplus Material Into Bridge Fuel

Published by Jenni Sidey

Oklo just secured a direct path to turn Cold War-era plutonium into fuel for its advanced reactors.   The Department of Energy selected Oklo for advanced negotiations under the Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program, one of five companies chosen to convert existing stockpiles into usable fuel under strict security and safeguards rules. The move gives Oklo a practical bridge while domestic enrichment capacity scales.   Work with radioactive materials at a plutonium facility at the at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1978.Credit The Santa Clara company is partnering with European advanced reactor developer newcleo on the effort. Oklo would lead U.S. utilization of the surplus material while newcleo would supply fuel expertise and potential project capital, subject to final agreements and U.S. security approvals.  The two firms already announced a strategic partnership last October that includes up to $2 billion in investment through a newcleo-affiliated vehicle for advanced fuel fabrication infrastructure in the United States. newcleo has since begun pre-application talks with the NRC for both a fuel facility and its lead-cooled fast reactor design.   …

“Demand For Critical Isotopes Rising, Supply Limited”: Oklo Lands First NRC License & Another DOE Milestone

“Demand For Critical Isotopes Rising, Supply Limited”: Oklo Lands First NRC License & Another DOE Milestone

Published by Jenni Sidey

In a double dose of regulatory green lights delivered on the same day, Oklo and its wholly owned subsidiary Atomic Alchemy just notched two meaningful milestones that underscore America’s push to reclaim control over critical nuclear supply chains. *Oklo Announces DOE Approval for Nuclear Safety Design Agreement of Aurora Powerhouse at Idaho National Laboratory — zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 17, 2026 The news sent the stock flying in early morning trading.  What happened? First, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued Atomic Alchemy its inaugural materials license. The permit authorizes the company to receive, possess, process, repackage, and distribute up to 2 curies of radium-226 (material currently treated as waste) along with sealed sources of cobalt-60 and americium-241 for calibration. Operations will kick off at Atomic Alchemy’s Idaho Radiochemistry Laboratory in Idaho Falls, paving the way for initial commercial sales of recovered isotopes used in cancer therapies, medical research, advanced manufacturing, and national security applications. Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte said, “Demand for critical isotopes is rising, but U.S. supply remains limited. This work helps create a more …

Meta Is Making a Big Bet on Nuclear With Oklo

Meta Is Making a Big Bet on Nuclear With Oklo

Published by skeptic

“This project will create jobs, spur local innovation, and advance American leadership in energy technology,” Urvi Parekh, head of global energy at Meta, said in a statement. “By investing in baseload nuclear energy, we’re helping build a resilient and sustainable future for our communities.” It’s not unusual for utilities to negotiate long-term contracts for fuel for reactors. But this is the first known incident where a hyperscaler is purchasing the fuel that will generate the electrons it plans to buy, says Koroush Shirvan, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The Oklo model that they have advertised is that they build, own, and operate,” says Shirvan. “But I’m trying to think of any other customers who provide fuel other than the U.S. government. I can’t think of any.” Oklo emerged in the past year as the poster child for a possible revolution in the US on how nuclear plants are built. Until recently, the US hadn’t started and completed any new reactors in a generation. By the time the only new machines came online …

Meta signs deals with three nuclear companies for 6-plus GW of power

Meta signs deals with three nuclear companies for 6-plus GW of power

Published by skeptic

Meta today announced three deals to provide its data centers with nuclear power: one from a startup, one from a smaller energy company, and one from a larger company that already operates several nuclear reactors in the U.S. Oklo and TerraPower, two companies developing small modular reactors (SMR), each signed agreements with Meta to build multiple reactors, while Vistra is selling capacity from its existing power plants. Nuclear power has become a favored power source for tech companies as their AI ambitions have grown, providing stable 24/7 electricity. Startups and existing reactors have benefited from the race for data center power, though in different ways. Existing reactors tend to be the cheapest form of baseload capacity, but there are only so many to go around, which has pushed Meta and its peers toward SMR startups. Companies like Oklo and TerraPower are betting that by building a large number of smaller reactors, they’ll be able to bring the cost down through mass manufacturing. It’s a plausible hypothesis, though one that has yet to be tested. Meta’s …