The Department of Energy announced Tuesday it has selected 11 nuclear projects to partake in a pilot program to streamline the deployment of advanced reactors.
In the DOE’s Tuesday press release, the agency listed these 10 companies:
- Aalo Atomics, based in Austin, Texas
- Antares Nuclear, based in Redondo Beach, Calif.
- Atomic Alchemy, based in Idaho Falls, Idaho
- Deep Fission, based in Berkeley, Calif.
- Last Energy, based in Washington, D.C.
- Oklo, based in Santa Clara, Calif.
- Natura Resources, based in Abilene, Texas
- Radiant, based in El Segundo, Calif.
- Terrestrial Energy, based in Charlotte, N.C.
- Valar Atomics, based in Hawthrone, Calif.
Oklo will be awarded for two projects, pushing it to 11 nuclear reactor projects, a DOE spokesperson confirmed. The press release said DOE will initially work with these projects, located outside of DOE’s national laboratories.
In an effort to keep the United States as the global leader in nuclear energy, DOE, guided by President Donald Trump’s executive order “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy”, put together an advanced reactor pilot program.
The pilot program was established in June with the plan of having at least three reactors to reach criticality by July 4, 2026. The 11 selected projects will be authorized by DOE to test their respective reactor designs at its national laboratories.
Under the guidelines of the program, each company will be responsible for its own costs of constructing, manufacturing and decommissioning its respective reactors.
“These companies aim to all safely achieve criticality by Independence Day, and DOE will do everything we can to support their efforts,” Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly said in the press release.
