The U.S. Department of Energy has approved the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for Oklo Inc.'s (NYSE: OKLO) Groves Isotopes Test Reactor in Texas under the DOE's Reactor Pilot Program.

The approval follows Oklo's January announcement of signing an Other Transaction Agreement for the facility and represents a milestone in the DOE's authorization pathway for advanced nuclear plants. The facility will now move to the next phase by submitting its Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for review.

"With DOE's approval, we are making meaningful progress in the development of this isotope facility," said Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and CEO of Oklo. "This plant will help us gather critical data, refine our processes, and apply those lessons to subsequent licensing submissions and future deployments."

Atomic Alchemy, Oklo's subsidiary, targets achieving criticality for the Groves facility by July 4, 2026. The site is located near Lockhart in Caldwell County, Texas, as part of the planned Proto-Town Innovation Hub.

The facility is designed to produce isotopes for cancer diagnosis and treatment, advanced manufacturing, scientific research, space exploration, and national security applications. The company stated that many isotopes are currently sourced from overseas suppliers or produced in aging facilities.

Robert Boston, Manager of the DOE Idaho Operations Office, said the approval "advances an authorization pathway that can strengthen domestic industrial capacity and support critical radioisotope supply chains."

The information is based on a company press release statement.