US Department of Energy Approves Design Concept for Oklo Fuel Plant

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has approved the conceptual design for Oklo Inc.'s Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility.

The new facility will be located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and will help convert used material recovered from DOE's former EBR-II reactor into usable fuel for its advanced nuclear power plant.

Oklo expects the first commercial Aurora power plant to be operational in 2027.

Fuel for Aurora

The Conceptual Safety Design Report was first submitted earlier this year to the DOE operations office in Idaho, which is responsible for nuclear safety and regulatory authority for the project.

Approval of the design concept is an important step in demonstrating advanced fuel recycling technologies.

The Aurora power plant is a liquid metal-cooled fast reactor designed to operate on both fresh, low-enriched, high-grade uranium (HALEU) and used nuclear fuel.

The new plant will produce HALEU fuel from EBR-II.

Oklo has gained access to 5 tonnes of HALEU under a cooperation agreement with INL, which was competitively awarded in 2019. The newly produced fuel will be used to power the first Aurora power plant reactor core at INL.

“We are proud of our collaboration with INL and DOE as we move closer to commissioning our first commercial facility using this recovered nuclear fuel in just a few years.” said Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and CEO of Oklo.

What's next?

Oklo will continue to work with INL to finalize the facility design and obtain DOE approval before construction begins.

Last month, Oklo entered into agreements with DOE to begin site characterization of its preferred location for the Aurora power plant reactor in support of its joint license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

DOE retains ownership of the HALEU both during and after use.

Oklo has also received prior DOE support through multiple GAIN vouchers to advance its Aurora powerhouse design, as well as additional funding to demonstrate recycling technologies through ARPA-E.

Learn more about our GAIN program.