Oklo breaks ground for first Aurora powerhouse

Oklo's Aurora powerhouse is a fast neutron reactor that uses heat pipes to transport heat from the reactor core to a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system to generate electricity. Building on the design and operating heritage of the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), which ran in Idaho from 1964 to 1994, it uses metallic fuel to produce electricity and usable heat, and can operate on fuel made from fresh HALEU or used nuclear fuel.

US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said he was "honoured" to attend the groundbreaking. "Oklo Inc's Aurora powerhouse will deliver clean, affordable, and reliable American energy to power a new generation of intelligence manufacturing across the country," he said. "As advancements in artificial intelligence drive up electricity demands, projects like this are critical to ensuring the United States can meet that need and remain at the forefront of the global AI arms race."

The company said the Aurora-INL is one of the three Oklo projects - including one from its subsidiary Atomic Alchemy - in the initial selections under the Reactor Pilot Program which were announced by the US Department of Energy (DOE) in August. This programme, instigated in response to executive orders signed by President Donald Trump earlier in the year, aims to accelerate advanced nuclear deployment and to modernise nuclear licensing, with the goal of demonstrating criticality in at least three test reactors by 4 July 2026.

"This opportunity positions us to build our first plant more quickly," Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte said. "We have been working with the Department of Energy and the Idaho National Laboratory since 2019 to bring this plant into existence, and this marks a new chapter of building. We are excited for this, and for many more to come."

Oklo was awarded fuel recovered from EBR-II by the Department of Energy in 2019 and has completed two of four steps for DOE authorisation to fabricate its initial core for the metal fuelled reactor at the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility (A3F) at INL.

In August, the company announced that Kiewit Nuclear Solutions Co will serve as lead constructor supporting the design, procurement, and construction of the powerhouse.

According to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the regulator is currently engaged in pre-application activities for the Oklo Aurora Powerhouse reactor, which it describes as a liquid metal-cooled, metal-fuelled fast reactor with a maximum power level of 75 MWe. Oklo previously submitted an application to the NRC in March 2020 to build and operate an Aurora compact fast reactor at the INL site, in what was the first combined licence application ever accepted by the US regulator for an advanced plant, although in January 2022 the regulator said it had insufficient data for the process to move forward. The company resumed pre-licensing activities with the NRC later that year.

Oklo was given the go-ahead to begin site characterisation work at INL in November 2024, and has previously said it intends to submit a combined license application later this year.

Participants in today's groundbreaking event included INL Director John Wagner, US Environmental Protections Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, and officials including Idaho Governor Bradley Little, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Senators Mike Crapo and James Risch, Congressman Mike Simpson, Idaho Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke, and Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper as well as representatives from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the DOE.

"INL has always been where nuclear innovation becomes reality," said John Wagner, the director of the laboratory. "Today's groundbreaking with Oklo continues that legacy, bringing advanced reactor technology from the laboratory to commercial deployment right here in Idaho."

According to Oklo, the project is expected to create around 370 jobs during construction, in addition to 70-80 long-term, highly skilled roles to operate the powerhouse and A3F.