US-based Aalo Atomics, which is developing modular nuclear plants to power modern AI data centres, has unveiled the first non-nuclear prototype of its Aalo-1 reactor.

The company also said it had completed a 40,000 sq ft (3,700 sq m) manufacturing facility near its headquarters in Austin, Texas.

Aalo said the developments represent a critical step towards achieving its goal of providing data centres with reliable power and are further proof that the company, a startup founded just two years ago, is “moving at lightspeed”.

Aalo aims to break ground on its prototype nuclear reactor next year. It has bought a plot of land in Texas for non-nuclear testing and was recently selected as one of four partners to develop up to 1 GW of nuclear energy generation capacity at the Texas A&M Rellis Campus.