Oklo held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory to mark the start of work for its first Aurora powerhouse project.
“This opportunity positions us to build our first plant more quickly,” Oklo CEO and co-founder Jacob DeWitte said in a Monday press release. “We have been working with the Department of Energy and the Idaho National Laboratory since 2019 to bring this plant into existence, and this marks a new chapter of building.”
Many government officials attended including Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Commissioner Bradley Crowell, DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s principal deputy assistant secretary Michael Goff, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and James Risch (R-Idaho).
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based advanced nuclear technology business is one of 10 companies selected for DOE’s reactor pilot program. The program sets out the goal of having at least three test reactors reach criticality by July 4, 2026.
The company’s first Aurora powerhouse, titled Aurora-INL, is one of three projects awarded by the program. Two projects were awarded to Oklo and another one to its subsidiary Atomic Alchemy.
For the Aurora-INL project, Kiewit Nuclear Solutions Company, a subsidiary to Kiewit Corporation, will serve as the lead constructor for it. Oklo selected the construction and engineering company in July.
According to Oklo, the project is expected to produce around 370 jobs during construction and 70-80 jobs long-term to operate the powerhouse and Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility.
The Aurora powerhouse is a sodium-cooled fast reactor that uses metal fuel. The design of the reactor builds on the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), which operated in Idaho from 1964 to 1994, according to the release.
Oklo was awarded fuel recovered from the EBR-II by the DOE in 2019 and completed two of the four steps for DOE authorization to fabricate its initial core at the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility.
Oklo has already received a site use permit from DOE at INL in December 2019. It also plans to submit its combined licensed application to the NRC later this year.