Nuclear start-ups Oklo and Flibe Energy both announced this week that they have been selected by the US Department of Energy for advanced negotiations under the DOE’s surplus plutonium utilisation programme, which aims to make surplus US plutonium available to the nuclear industry for advanced reactor fuels.

The American Nuclear Society said that according to multiple reports, three other companies – Exodys Energy, Shine Technologies, and Standard Nuclear – have also been selected for advanced negotiations under the programme, which is being led by the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.

The DOE established the programme last year with a request for applications from prospective companies interested in receiving almost 20 tonnes of DOE-owned plutonium materials for “recycling, processing, and manufacturing” into nuclear fuel for advanced reactors.