Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO) has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) to advance its Groves 2 Forge isotope production and processing pilot facility as part of the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative.

The DOE and NRIC selected 12 developers across 13 projects for the initiative, which provides a pathway for domestic reactor development and nuclear fuel cycle advancements. Groves 2 Forge is planned to integrate reactor irradiation with hot-cell processing capabilities, including isotope separation, product recovery, packaging, and transportation. The facility will initially focus on producing lutetium-177, an isotope used in targeted cancer treatments.

The project builds on Oklo's Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Texas, which the company brought from greenfield to criticality in less than a year under DOE's Reactor Pilot Program — the first such project to reach that milestone on private land.

"Groves showed how quickly a new reactor could be built and brought to criticality through close collaboration between the private sector and DOE," said Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte. "Groves 2 Forge will build directly on that foundation by adding the capabilities needed to irradiate target materials and process and prepare valuable isotopes."

Chimi Zacot, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors, said the DOE looks forward to supporting Oklo as it advances integrated isotope production and processing capabilities through the Launch Pad initiative.

Oklo plans to transition Groves 2 Forge from pilot operations to commercial-scale isotope production pending appropriate U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses. According to the company's statement, many critical isotopes are currently supplied through aging or foreign facilities, while short-lived medical isotopes can lose useful activity during transportation.