Oklo Secures DOE and NRC Approvals, Advancing Isotope Reactor Plans

Oklo stacked three significant regulatory moves on March 17, landing its first-ever NRC materials license for isotope handling while simultaneously collecting two DOE Nuclear Safety Design Agreement approvals and quietly withdrawing its NRC construction permit application for the Meitner-1 VIPR deployment at its Idaho lab.

The NRC license went to Atomic Alchemy, Oklo's wholly owned subsidiary, authorizing the Idaho Radiochemistry Laboratory to handle, process, and distribute isotopes. The license came after NRC review and an onsite inspection, and it covers recovery and refinement of Ra-226 as well as use of Co-60 and Am-241 for calibration. Oklo called it "the transition from design and planning to real-world execution and progress," and it marks the first NRC-issued license in the company's history.

On the DOE side, the two NSDA approvals covered the Aurora powerhouse project at Idaho National Laboratory and Atomic Alchemy's Groves Isotopes Test Reactor in Texas, located at the Proto-Town Innovation Hub near Lockhart. The Groves reactor, a pilot-scale facility aimed at advancing isotope production, received NSDA approval that allows the project to move into the execution phase, including submission of safety analyses and further regulatory review. Zacks reported a target of initial criticality by mid-2026 for the Groves reactor, though that timeline should be treated as a reported target rather than a confirmed DOE schedule. For the Aurora project at INL, Oklo also signed a DOE Other Transaction Agreement under the Reactor Pilot Program to support design, construction, and operation. The DOE Idaho Operations Office signed off on a preliminary safety design review for the Aurora reactor, with full completion of that review expected sometime in late 2027 or 2028.

The Aurora project has been in motion for a while. Oklo broke ground at INL in September, and the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility, known as A3F, received its own DOE NSDA approval back in November 2025 and a preliminary design safety analysis approval in December 2025 under the DOE Advanced Nuclear Fuel Line Pilot Program. A3F will fabricate the first fuel assemblies for Aurora-INL.

Pulling the Meitner-1 NRC construction permit application was a deliberate strategic call. Oklo had planned to deploy four VIPRs at the Idaho lab under that project name, but the company said it is now prioritizing DOE authorization first under what it calls a "learn-first-then-scale strategy." The isotope work the Idaho Radiochemistry Laboratory is now licensed to conduct will build operating experience that Oklo intends to draw on for a future deployment of up to four NRC-approved VIPRs, though no timeline for that deployment has been offered.

CEO Jacob DeWitte and CFO Craig Bealmear presented a broader business update on a conference call after market close on March 17, covering projects spanning isotope, fuel, and energy sectors. That included the A3F, a tentative deconversion and enrichment partnership with Centrus Energy, a 1.2 GW power deal with Meta, and a TVA partnership on a possible fuel recycling facility.

Investors responded to the announcements before markets opened, with Oklo shares rising between 3% and 7.3% in premarket trading. The convergence of the NRC isotope license and the DOE reactor approvals on the same day gave the company's regulatory narrative an unusual coherence: progress on both the isotope and reactor sides of the business arriving simultaneously. Recycling disused radioactive materials into isotope feedstock also positions Atomic Alchemy in a domestic supply chain gap that carries weight in current U.S. energy security discussions.

Oklo has no operational reactor at its Idaho facility yet, but the regulatory infrastructure it assembled in a single Tuesday is considerably more substantial than it was the week before.