Oklo Joins Nuclear Startups Racing To Build New Reactors

Nuclear start-up Oklo is among the 11 companies selected by the U.S. Energy Department for a test reactor program that aims to have at least three advanced nuclear reactors operating at national laboratories by July 2026.

Oklo went public last year. (Photo: Oklo)

Meeting that deadline would be a year ahead of Oklo’s internal targets, Avi Salzman, Mackenzie Tatananni, and Janet H. Cho reported for Barron’s Daily.

The nuclear sector is attracting intense interest but remains largely untested in modern contexts.

Traditional nuclear reactors often take about a decade to license and build, but President Donald Trump wants to accelerate the process with a streamlined regulatory review.

He has also said current reactor radiation emission standards are unrealistic.

While some nuclear experts warn that bypassing traditional safeguards carries risks, a growing industry of start-ups is working on designs they claim will be faster and cheaper to build than the 1950s-era models still in use today.

Oklo went public last year, while another company on the Energy Department’s list — Terrestrial Energy — plans to go public later this year through a merger with a blank-check company.

Other selected firms include Aalo Atomics, Antares Nuclear, Atomic Alchemy, Deep Fission, Last Energy, Natura Resources, Radiant Energy, and Valar Atomics.

Oklo’s second quarter showed a narrower net loss than a year ago, with cash burn in line with expectations.

The company reiterated its goal of beginning commercial operations between late 2027 and early 2028 and is awaiting approval for its first plant at Idaho National Laboratory.