Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO) (“Oklo”), an advanced nuclear technology company, and Standard Nuclear, a reactor-agnostic producer of TRISO nuclear fuel, today announced they have entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore commercial collaboration on nuclear fuel recycling and advanced fuel manufacturing. As part of that collaboration, the companies also intend to work together on the safe, secure, and cost-effective utilization of U.S. surplus plutonium for advanced reactor fuel, following both companies’ recent selection by the U.S. Department of Energy among five firms for advanced negotiations under its Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program.
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Oklo Aurora powerhouse (Image: Oklo)
The MOU aligns with the administration’s executive orders aimed at accelerating U.S. nuclear energy deployment and establishing domestic supplies of critical nuclear materials and fuel and establishes a framework for the companies to explore:
- Recycled nuclear material offtake. Oklo and Standard Nuclear intend to jointly evaluate product specifications, potential commercial terms, and delivery schedules for recycled materials from Oklo’s planned fuel recycling facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The collaboration would focus on the supply of reprocessed uranium (RepU) and uranium-transuranic material (U/TRU) streams from used nuclear fuel, which could serve as feedstock for TRISO fuel manufacturing.
- Surplus plutonium fuel collaboration. The MOU also establishes a framework for the companies to explore the responsible use of U.S. surplus plutonium for advanced reactor fuel after Oklo and Standard Nuclear were selected for advanced negotiations under the DOE’s Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program. The companies intend to evaluate opportunities to collaborate on facilities, licensing, packaging, and transportation to support secure, cost-effective conversion of surplus plutonium into advanced reactor fuel for clean, baseload electricity.
“Oklo’s fuel strategy is built around turning used nuclear fuel and surplus nuclear materials into usable fuel for reactors and power plants,” said Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte. “The collaboration with Standard Nuclear helps support the domestic supply chains needed to deploy advanced nuclear at scale.”
“Standard Nuclear is committed to developing a secure, domestic supply chain for advanced nuclear fuel,” said Kurt Terrani, CEO of Standard Nuclear. “This partnership represents a compelling pathway to source feedstock materials for our TRISO fuel manufacturing and radioisotope power systems and is an important step in strengthening domestic fuel feedstock supply sources.”
Oklo is developing fuel recycling capabilities to recover useful materials from used nuclear fuel and convert them into feedstocks for advanced nuclear applications. The U.S. has accumulated almost 100,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel, representing a significant potential energy resource. Oklo is also advancing Pluto, a plutonium-fueled fast test reactor, as part of its broader strategy to demonstrate how surplus plutonium can be used as bridge fuel for advanced reactors rather than remain solely a long-term disposition challenge.
Meanwhile, Oklo’s planned fuel recycling facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee aims to support a commercial pathway for recovering selected materials from used fuel for advanced fuel manufacturing and isotope applications, including for healthcare, industrial, space, defense, and research uses.
Standard Nuclear is the nation’s only independent developer of TRISO fuel for advanced reactors, offering a reactor-agnostic fuel supply that supports both terrestrial and space applications. As a radioisotope power system developer, the company will benefit from commercial availability of recovered isotopes for use in compact power systems for space and defense applications.
About Oklo Inc.: Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, affordable energy at global scale; establishing a domestic supply chain for critical isotopes; and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert used nuclear fuel into clean energy. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for a commercial advanced fission plant, was awarded fuel from Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. National Laboratories.
About Standard Nuclear
Standard Nuclear’s mission is to reliably deliver the essential building blocks of nuclear power at scale — enabling cost-effective, safe, and secure energy for the world. Supported by leading U.S. defense technology and critical infrastructure investment firms, Standard Nuclear is focused on the large-scale production of advanced nuclear fuel and radioisotope power systems. It is the nation’s only independent manufacturer of TRISO fuel — a robust, high-performance fuel essential to advanced nuclear reactors for both terrestrial and space applications. Standard Nuclear offers a reactor-agnostic supply of advanced fuels to the next-generation nuclear industry and delivers dependable radioisotope power solutions to the space and defense sectors. Through these efforts, it is helping to eliminate U.S. reliance on geopolitical adversaries for these strategically vital technologies. For more information, visit: https://www.standardnuclear.com/
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements that express Oklo’s opinions, expectations, objectives, beliefs, plans, intentions, strategies, assumptions, forecasts or projections regarding future events or future results and therefore are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements.” The words “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “continue,” “might,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “goal,” “would,” “commit,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this press release and include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the markets in which Oklo operates. Such forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties.
As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, the actual results or performance of Oklo may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The following important risk factors could affect Oklo’s future results and cause those results or other outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements: risks related to the development and deployment of Oklo’s powerhouses, fuel fabrication and fuel recycling facilities, and radioisotope production activities; the risk that Oklo is pursuing an emerging market with no commercial project operating and regulatory uncertainties; risks related to acquisitions, divestitures, or joint ventures we may engage in; the need for financing to construct plants, which remain subject to market, financial, political, and legal conditions; risks related to an inability to raise additional capital to support our business and sustain our growth on favorable terms; the effects of competition; risks related to accessing high-assay low-enriched uranium, plutonium, and other fuels (including recycled fuels) at acceptable costs and under acceptable timelines; risks related to our supply chain; risks related to power purchase agreements; risks related to human capital; risks related to our intellectual property; risks related to cybersecurity and data privacy; changes in applicable laws or regulations, including tariffs; the outcome of any government and regulatory proceedings and investigations and inquiries; and the other factors set forth in our documents we have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties of the other documents filed by Oklo from time to time with the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on Oklo. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting Oklo will be those that Oklo has anticipated. Oklo undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this presentation, except as may be required by law.
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