US-based advanced nuclear company Aalo Atomics has broken ground on its first experimental nuclear power plant, Aalo-X, at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in the US state of Idaho.

The company said the facility, a 10-MW sodium-cooled test reactor, is the first step towards its planned line of “extra-modular reactors” (XMRs), which it said is a new category of modular reactors designed to bridge the gap between microreactors and small modular reactors (SMRs).

Aalo said construction is proceeding under a US Department of Energy (DOE) pilot programme established by one of president Donald Trump’s recent executive orders, which set a goal of achieving first criticality in at least three advanced reactors by July 2026.