Industry Accomplishment

Oklo Inc., (NYSE: OKLO) (Oklo), an advanced nuclear technology company, announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Idaho Operations Office has approved the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) for the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility (A3F) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), marking the start of the assembly of the facility.

X-energy recently began testing its proprietary TRISO-X fuel pebbles for its Xe-100 small modular reactor, or SMR, at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). With the U.S. Department of Energy also collaborating in the testing, the roughly yearlong process will evaluate the fuel’s performance at different temperatures, burnout conditions and power levels.

Standard Nuclear, a reactor-agnostic producer of TRISO nuclear fuel, announced it has executed an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), marking a major milestone in an effort to bring privately funded advanced nuclear-fuel production infrastructure online in support of TRISO-fueled reactor demonstrations in 2026.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright toured the Idaho National Laboratory and its facilities, including NRIC-DOME, as the lab aims to usher in the new nuclear renaissance.

Nuclear power startup Antares announced a $96 million Series B round Dec. 2 to fund work on developing small nuclear reactors, including for space applications.

National, state and local leaders from Idaho were present for Antares Industries officially opening an office in Idaho Falls on November 24. Antares Industries (often referred to simply as Antares) is a private nuclear energy technology company, founded in 2023 and headquartered in Torrance, Calif., with facilities in Idaho Falls and Aiken, S.C., specializing in the design and manufacture of advanced, transportable fission microreactors. The company builds advanced micro nuclear reactors to power military and commercial applications on Earth and in space.

Valar Atomics' NOVA Core achieved zero-power criticality at Los Alamos National Laboratory's National Criticality Experiments Research Center on 17 November. The project is a series of criticality experiments on Valar's graphite-moderated core using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) TRISO fuel, carried out under the oversight of the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration.

Radiant, a leader in portable, mass-produced nuclear generators, announced today that it submitted its DOE Authorization Request for Kaleidos (DARK) to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for review earlier this month. This submission meets the intent of the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA), an essential milestone that keeps the company on track to start up its first reactor next year at the National Reactor Innovation Center's (NRIC) DOME facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

The Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility, where the fuel for Oklo's first commercial-scale Aurora powerhouse will be made, is the first under the US Department of Energy's Fuel Line Pilot Projects initiative and was approved in just under two weeks.

Oklo Inc.., an advanced nuclear technology company, announced today it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), the management and operating contractor for Idaho National Laboratory (INL), to expand collaboration on scientific and technological research and development in areas such as advanced fuel and materials work that are mutually beneficial and support Oklo’s commercial deployment.