Sam Altman-backed nuclear startup Oklo to start site work for Idaho microreactor
Rendering of a proposed Oklo commercial advanced fission power plant in the U.S.
Courtesy: Oklo Inc.
Nuclear startup Oklo is moving closer to initial construction of its first commercial microreactor, CEO Jacob DeWitte told CNBC in an interview.
Oklo has received the greenlight from the Department of Energy to conduct site investigations for the planned reactor at Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, the company announced Wednesday.
The site investigations will focus on infrastructure planning, environmental surveys and geotechnical assessments.
“This sets the stage for doing all the initial site … prep work, and what I would call initial construction activities,” DeWitte said. He expects Oklo to break ground at the Idaho site in 2026, with plans to have the reactor up and running by the following year.
Oklo, however, still needs approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate the plant after its first application was rejected in 2022. The CEO acknowledged there’s a risk the 2027 start date gets pushed out depending on how long the NRC review takes.
Oklo, which aims to build, operate and directly sell power to customers under long-term contracts, went public in May through a merger with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s SPAC, AltC Acquisition Corp. Altman serves as Oklo’s chairman.
Electric demand is projected to surge. The tech sector has been feverishly building data centers to handle the power-intensive computations needed for artificial intelligence, while domestic manufacturing is expanding and the economy becomes increasingly electrified.
The company said its microreactors, called Aurora, will have smaller and simpler designs that will range from 15 megawatts to as much as 100 megawatts or more. The average nuclear reactor in the U.S. currently is around 1,000 megawatts, according to the Department of Energy.
‘Industry has radically fallen short’
Oko’s stock has gained nearly 26% since Constellation Energy unveiled plans Friday to restart Three Mile Island nuclear plant to help power Microsoft’s data centers. Its shares are down 54% since its NYSE debut.
DeWitte said the Three Mile Island restart is a “testament” to how much the tech sector sees “energy going up and how important it is to lock in secure supplies of it.”
“What we’re seeing is hyperscalers taking the approach of trying to secure large capacity from existing plants to the greatest extent that they can, which makes sense, because some of that can be the nearest-term power delivery,” DeWitte said.
But the nuclear “industry has radically fallen short of its ability to keep up with the market interest,” DeWitte said. “The challenge has just been the industry’s offerings in terms of product, the business model and ability to execute have just been horrible,” he said.
“All of that is elements around which disruption has needed to take place to sort of change the paradigm,” he said. “And that’s where we really have taken a different angle.”
NRC review crucial
Oklo, however, has faced its own challenges. The NRC rejected Oklo’s first license application due to missing safety information. The company plans to file its application again in 2025, DeWitte said. It is currently in a preapplication review process, he said.
DeWitte attributed the denial of Oklo’s first application to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic that prevented in-person audits. Oklo submitted its application on March 11, 2020, the day the World Health Organization declared a pandemic.
“Everything changed,” DeWitte said of the pandemic’s impact on the review process. “This missing information was largely missing through communication challenges,” he said.
The CEO acknowledged the NRC review could delay the 2027 start date for the Idaho microreactor: “There’s definitely risk. At the end of the day, we can’t control the NRC review timeline,” he said.
Oklo could get a tailwind from the recently enacted ADVANCE Act, which directs the NRC to speed up decisions on license applications to build and operate reactors.
Future business
DeWitte said Oklo’s business is not contingent upon when the Idaho plant goes online. The company has 1,350 megawatts of interest through letters of intent with potential customers, a 93% increase from 700 megawatts in July 2023, according to the company’s recent earnings presentation.
The CEO said Oklo aims to bring plants online “in multiples per year” starting in 2028 to 2029. “From there, it’s really a game about scaling up the supply chain accordingly,” he said.
Oklo’s microreactors are a good fit for data centers, which are built in individual halls with energy needs of less than 50 megawatts, about the size of the company’s plants, he said.
“They kind of build them out in modules that are pretty similar to what we power, that’s very much on purpose, and so we can build up with them,” DeWitte said.
Nuclear fuel has been a big constraint on Oklo, DeWitte said. In May, the U.S. banned uranium imports from Russia, which made up about 35% of the U.S. nuclear fuel imports. The Biden administration is investing $2.7 billion to stand up domestic production.
Oklo has a partnership with Centrus Energy, a U.S.-based nuclear fuel supplier. Centrus began enrichment operations in Piketon, Ohio, last October, but the domestic supply chain isn’t producing at the scale needed today, DeWitte said. However, Oklo said it has secured the fuel it needs for the Idaho plant.
The company’s reactors will have the ability to recycle fuel, which will help to diversify its supply chain, DeWitte said. But recycled fuel likely won’t be available in meaningful quantities until 2029 or beyond, he said.
Oklo posted a net loss of $53 million for the six months ended June 30. The company has not generated any revenue yet. That will come when it generates power at its first plant.
“Once we turn on that revenue operation, you’re usually locked into a 20-year — and in some cases, potentially longer — power purchase agreements,” CEO said. “You’re going to be getting the revenues for the next 20 years and then growing from there.”
Wind energy powered 20% of all electricity consumed in Europe (19% in the EU) in 2024, and the EU has set a goal to grow this share to 34% by 2030 and more than 50% by 2050.
To stay on track, the EU needs to install 30 GW of new wind farms annually, but it only managed 13 GW in 2024 – 11.4 GW onshore and 1.4 GW offshore. This is what’s holding the EU back from achieving its wind growth goals.
Three big problems holding Europe’s wind power back
Europe’s wind power growth is stalling for three key reasons:
Permitting delays. Many governments haven’t implemented the EU’s new permitting rules, making it harder for projects to move forward.
Grid connection bottlenecks. Over 500 GW(!) of potential wind capacity is stuck in grid connection queues.
Slow electrification. Europe’s economy isn’t electrifying fast enough to drive demand for more renewable energy.
Brussels-based trade association WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson summed it up: “The EU must urgently tackle all three problems. More wind means cheaper power, which means increased competitiveness.”
Permitting: Germany sets the standard
Permitting remains a massive roadblock, despite new EU rules aimed at streamlining the process. In fact, the situation worsened in 2024 in many countries. The bright spot? Germany. By embracing the EU’s permitting rules — with measures like binding deadlines and treating wind energy as a public interest priority — Germany approved a record 15 GW of new onshore wind in 2024. That’s seven times more than five years ago.
If other governments follow Germany’s lead, Europe could unlock the full potential of wind energy and bolster energy security.
Grid connections: a growing crisis
Access to the electricity grid is now the biggest obstacle to deploying wind energy. And it’s not just about long queues — Europe’s grid infrastructure isn’t expanding fast enough to keep up with demand. A glaring example is Germany’s 900-megawatt (MW) Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm. The turbines are ready to go, but the grid connection won’t be in place until 2026.
This issue isn’t isolated. Governments need to accelerate grid expansion if they’re serious about meeting renewable energy targets.
Electrification: falling behind
Wind energy’s growth is also tied to how quickly Europe electrifies its economy. Right now, electricity accounts for just 23% of the EU’s total energy consumption. That needs to jump to 61% by 2050 to align with climate goals. However, electrification efforts in key sectors like transportation, heating, and industry are moving too slowly.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has tasked Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen with crafting an Electrification Action Plan. That can’t come soon enough.
More wind farms awarded, but challenges persist
On a positive note, governments across Europe awarded a record 37 GW of new wind capacity (29 GW in the EU) in 2024. But without faster permitting, better grid connections, and increased electrification, these awards won’t translate into the clean energy-producing wind farms Europe desperately needs.
Investments and corporate interest
Investments in wind energy totaled €31 billion in 2024, financing 19 GW of new capacity. While onshore wind investments remained strong at €24 billion, offshore wind funding saw a dip. Final investment decisions for offshore projects remain challenging due to slow permitting and grid delays.
Corporate consumers continue to show strong interest in wind energy. Half of all electricity contracted under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in 2024 was wind. Dedicated wind PPAs were 4 GW out of a total of 12 GW of renewable PPAs.
Read more: Renewables could meet almost half of global electricity demand by 2030 – IEA
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the official unveiling of the new Tesla Model Y, Mazda 6e, Aptera solar car production-intent, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
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The Chinese EV leader is launching a new flagship electric sedan. BYD’s new Han L EV leaked in China on Friday, revealing a potential Tesla Model S Plaid challenger.
What we know about the BYD Han L EV so far
We knew it was coming soon after BYD teased the Han L on social media a few days ago. Now, we are learning more about what to expect.
BYD’s new electric sedan appeared in China’s latest Ministry of Industry and Information Tech (MIIT) filing, a catalog of new vehicles that will soon be sold.
The filing revealed four versions, including two EV and two PHEV models. The Han L EV will be available in single- and dual-motor configurations. With a peak power of 580 kW (777 hp), the single-motor model packs more power than expected.
BYD’s dual-motor Han L gains an additional 230 kW (308 hp) front-mounted motor. As CnEVPost pointed out, the vehicle’s back has a “2.7S” badge, which suggests a 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) sprint time of just 2.7 seconds.
To put that into perspective, the Tesla Model S Plaid can accelerate from 0 to 100 km in 2.1 seconds. In China, the Model S Plaid starts at RBM 814,900, or over $110,000. Speaking of Tesla, the EV leader just unveiled its highly anticipated Model Y “Juniper” refresh in China on Thursday. It starts at RMB 263,500 ($36,000).
BYD already sells the Han EV in China, starting at around RMB 200,000. However, the single front motor, with a peak power of 180 kW, is much less potent than the “L” model. The Han EV can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.9 seconds.
At 5,050 mm long, 1,960 mm wide, and 1,505 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,970 mm, BYD’s new Han L is roughly the size of the Model Y (4,970 mm long, 1,964 mm wide, 1,445 mm tall, wheelbase of 2,960 mm).
Other than that it will use a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack from BYD’s FinDreams unit, no other battery specs were revealed. Check back soon for the full rundown.
Source: CnEVPost, China MIIT
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