DOE approves Oklo nuclear fuel fabrication facility safety design

Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO) received approval from the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho Operations Office for the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for its Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility at Idaho National Laboratory. The approval represents the first under the DOE's Fuel Line Pilot Projects program and was completed in under two weeks.

The facility will fabricate fuel for Oklo's Aurora-INL reactor, which was selected for the DOE's Reactor Pilot Program. Both facilities are located at Idaho National Laboratory and are designed to couple fuel production with power delivery for commercial deployment of advanced nuclear energy technology.

"This approval marks clear progress toward demonstrating how we can repurpose used nuclear fuel to power the next generation of clean energy reactors," said Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and CEO of Oklo.

The DOE authorization process provides a modernized approach to building and operating nuclear fuel production lines for research, development, and demonstration purposes. The approval follows Oklo's recent groundbreaking for the Aurora-INL reactor, which can operate under a DOE authorization pathway.

Oklo gained access to fuel material through a competitive DOE process launched in 2019. The company received a site-use permit at Idaho National Laboratory and access to fuel recovered from the historic Experimental Breeder Reactor-II.

Robert Boston, Manager of the DOE Idaho Operations Office, stated the approval represents an important step forward for companies selected for the Fuel Line Pilot Program to demonstrate nuclear fuel manufacturing capabilities.

The facility aims to demonstrate fuel fabrication and recycling technologies for advanced reactor applications, according to the company's press release statement.

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