Company says move establishes framework for execution and risk reduction
Advanced nuclear company Oklo has signed a US Department of Energy (DOE) Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) to support the design, construction, and operation of a radioisotope pilot plant.
Santa Clara, California-based Oklo, in which OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman is a major investor, said signing the OTA is a major milestone which marks the transition from project selection and planning into active execution under DOE authorisation.
The announcement followed the news this week that Generation IV small modular reactor (SMR) developer Terrestrial Energy has executed an OTA agreement with the DOE for Project Tetra, an initiative to build and operate a pilot reactor which will support Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) plant development.
OTAs will allow the companies to operate outside traditional federal contracting constraints, providing a flexible and agile framework designed for swift advanced reactor innovation.
Both OTAs were signed as part of the DOE’s Advanced Reactor Pilot Program, which enables the DOE to authorise privately built reactors outside its national laboratories. The programme provides a streamlined pathway to regulatory authorisation for operation, bridging the gap between pilot reactor operations for system testing, and licensing for commercial plant operation.
“This OTA establishes a framework for execution and risk reduction,” said Oklo co-founder and chief executive officer Jacob DeWitte. “By building and operating a pilot reactor, we generate the data and experience to streamline future commercial deployments, improve regulatory efficiency and deliver long-term value.”
Atomic Alchemy, an Oklo subsidiary, is using the radioisotope pilot plant to lay the groundwork for future commercial plants that make medical and research radioisotopes in the US.
These radioisotopes are essential for diagnosing cancer, treating disease, powering medical research, and supporting national security. Today, many are produced overseas or in aging facilities. By first operating a pilot plant, Oklo said it can then scale into reliable, domestic production that helps ensure hospitals, researchers, and patients have consistent access to these lifesaving materials.
Oklo ‘A Unique Case’, Says ANS
The American Nuclear Society (ANS) said Oklo is a unique case within the framework of the Reactor Pilot Program. Where the other companies involved each have one associated project, Oklo has three: its Aurora Powerhouse, its Pluto reactor, and a third reactor that is being led by Atomic Alchemy.
Aurora is a 75-MWe liquid metal–cooled, metal-fuelled fast reactor with “a long and complicated history”, ANS said. Oklo first entered preapplication discussions in 2016 for a 1.5-MW version of the reactor. The eventual licence application for that project was denied by the NRC in 2022. In September 2025, the company finally broke ground on the project, now authorised by the DOE and significantly scaled up in size, at Idaho National Laboratory.
“There is little publicly available information regarding the Pluto reactor, which Oklo has described as a plutonium-fuelled fast reactor,” ANS said.
The current OTA supports Oklo’s third reactor, which falls under the leadership of Atomic Alchemy, acquired by Oklo in 2024.
