Haleu is an advanced fuel material that can be used to fuel both existing and advanced fission power plants. The companies said in a joint statement that they want to establish domestic Haleu production capabilities to support the commercialisation of Oklo’s new generation nuclear power plants.
California-based Oklo said its Aurora nuclear plant is the first advanced fission plant design under active licensing review by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Centrus, a Tennessee-based supplier of nuclear fuel and services for the nuclear power industry, is constructing the country’s first NRC-licensed Haleu production facility in Piketon, Ohio, and the facility is expected to begin demonstrating first-of-a-kind Haleu production in 2022.
Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and chief executive officer of Oklo, said: “Without an existing commercial supply of Haleu, we are lacking a critical infrastructure capability that needs to be kickstarted domestically.
“The commercialisation of advanced fission is happening now. We need to build out the US commercial supply chain capabilities to fuel the advanced fission power plants we are deploying,” he said.
Starting in the early 2020s, Oklo will begin to deploy and commercialise its advanced fission power plants. Fuel material provided by Idaho National Laboratory is expected to fuel Oklo’s first plant, with Oklo’s near-term power plant deployment anticipated to be fuelled by Centrus.
