Oklo has moved one step closer to bringing its first advanced reactor online after securing another key federal approval. The milestone advances the company’s efforts to demonstrate that next-generation nuclear plants can move from concept to deployment under existing government oversight.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office has approved the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse at Idaho National Laboratory. The decision pushes the project further through the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program, which aims to accelerate advanced reactor deployment while maintaining rigorous safety reviews.
For Oklo, the approval represents more than a regulatory checkpoint. It also provides momentum for a technology that supporters believe could strengthen America’s future energy mix and domestic industrial capacity.
Building toward deployment
The approved safety analysis establishes Aurora-INL’s preliminary safety basis. It evaluates potential hazards, accident scenarios, safety controls, and major design commitments that will guide the project through its next stages.
“This approval represents an important milestone for Aurora-INL and helps establish a foundation for future Aurora deployments,” said Jacob DeWitte, Oklo’s co-founder and chief executive officer. He added that the Idaho project is demonstrating how advanced reactors can progress through real-world safety reviews, construction activities, and eventually commercial licensing.
Aurora-INL will be the first of Oklo’s planned fast fission power plants. The project has steadily advanced since 2019, when the company received a site-use permit at Idaho National Laboratory and later secured access to recovered fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II through a competitive DOE process.
Oklo also received approval to begin site characterization work at the Idaho site in November 2024. Those activities helped prepare the groundwork for future construction and deployment efforts.
Reactor with historic roots
Aurora differs from traditional nuclear plants through its fast neutron reactor design and compact architecture. The system uses heat pipes to move heat away from the reactor core and into a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system that generates electricity.
The reactor builds on operating experience from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, which operated in Idaho between 1964 and 1994. Oklo says Aurora uses metallic fuel to provide both electricity and usable heat while offering greater operational flexibility.
The design can operate using either fresh high-assay low-enriched uranium, known as HALEU, or recycled fuel derived from used nuclear material. That capability has attracted attention as the United States seeks reliable, carbon-free energy sources to support growing electricity demand.
Expanding fuel strategy
Aurora’s progress comes as Oklo works to secure multiple fuel pathways for future reactor deployments. The company is developing the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility in Idaho, where it plans to produce the initial fuel assemblies for Aurora-INL using material recovered from EBR-II.
The Department of Energy approved the facility’s preliminary safety analysis in late 2025. That decision made A3F the first project authorized under the agency’s Fuel Line Pilot Program.
Oklo also entered advanced negotiations last month under the Department of Energy’s Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program. The initiative aims to make designated surplus plutonium available for conversion into reactor fuel under strict security and safeguards requirements.