The Infinite Unknown

Summary

Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) is a Santa Clara, California advanced fission company developing the Aurora powerhouse — a sodium-cooled fast reactor using metallic HALEU fuel. It is the most datacenter-focused nuclear developer, with an ~18 GW order book spanning Meta, Switch, Equinix, Wyoming Hyperscale, Prometheus Hyperscale, and Diamondback Energy. Oklo went public via SPAC merger in May 2024. Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO) is chairman. The company broke ground on its first Aurora unit at Idaho National Laboratory in September 2025 with Kiewit as lead constructor, targeting commercial operation in late 2027 or early 2028. Key risks: HALEU fuel supply (Oklo has a DOE fuel agreement for the INL unit, but commercial-scale HALEU supply beyond the first unit is unresolved); first-of-a-kind licensing (the NRC rejected Oklo’s original Combined License Application in 2022 and the company restarted the process; a new COLA Phase 1 submission is planned for 2025); and the size of the order book relative to the company’s demonstrated execution — the ~18 GW of agreements is almost entirely nonbinding LOIs.

Key Facts

• Founded: 2013
• HQ: Santa Clara, CA
• Type: Public (NYSE: OKLO); went public via SPAC May 2024
• Chairman: Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI; co-founder of SPAC that merged with Oklo)
• CEO / Co-Founder: Jacob DeWitte
• Co-Founder / COO: Caroline Cochran
• Reactor design: Aurora powerhouse — compact sodium-cooled fast fission reactor
• Output: 75 MWe (uprated from original 15 MWe; expanded specifically to meet AI datacenter power demand)
• Fuel: Metallic high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) — enriched to 19.75%; manufactured by and sourced from DOE/INL for first unit
• Coolant: Liquid sodium metal; passive natural circulation; no pumps required for normal operation
• Walk-away safe: Core can cool passively without operator action or AC power for indefinite period
• Key feature: Can run on used nuclear fuel (spent fuel recycling) in future iterations — reduces long-term waste and extends fuel supply
• Flagship deployment: Aurora Unit 1 at Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
  • Groundbreaking: September 2025
  • Constructor: Kiewit (announced as lead constructor)
  • NRC status: New Combined License Application in preparation; Phase 1 COLA submission planned 2025; NRC completed pre-application readiness assessment 2025
  • Commercial operation target: Late 2027 or early 2028
• Order book: ~18 GW (predominantly nonbinding LOIs / framework agreements)
  • Named customers: Meta (~15 GW Master Power Agreement + other agreements), Switch (12 GW supply agreement), Equinix (LOI), Wyoming Hyperscale (100 MW, 20-yr PPA), Prometheus Hyperscale (LOI), Diamondback Energy (LOI)
• Vertiv partnership: July 2025 — strategic collaboration to co-develop integrated power and thermal management systems for hyperscale/colo datacenters; Oklo provides electricity and high-temperature steam; Vertiv provides thermal management and power distribution
• Siemens Energy: Selected as steam cycle equipment provider for first Aurora project
• DOE fuel agreement: DOE committed to provide HALEU fuel for the INL demonstration unit from INL’s existing inventory
• Market cap (approx Q1 2026): ~$3–4B (volatile; heavily influenced by Sam Altman profile and AI datacenter sentiment)

What It Is / How It Works

Fast fission, metallic fuel: The Aurora is a sodium-cooled fast reactor — similar in cooling approach to TerraPower’s Natrium, but much smaller (75 MW vs. 345 MW) and using metallic HALEU fuel rather than TerraPower’s LEU metallic fuel. “Fast” refers to the neutron energy spectrum — high-energy neutrons interact with the metallic uranium fuel, sustaining a chain reaction without a moderator. Fast reactors can in principle use spent fuel from conventional LWRs as fuel after reprocessing — a long-term strategic capability Oklo highlights but that is decades away from commercial relevance.

HALEU fuel: HALEU (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium) is enriched to 5–20% U-235 (standard LWR fuel is ~3–5%). The Aurora requires enrichment to 19.75%. HALEU enables smaller, more compact reactor designs (more fissile material per volume means a smaller critical mass) — but HALEU production requires centrifuge enrichment facilities operating at higher enrichment levels than standard commercial enrichment, which is subject to strict NRC/DOE licensing and limited global supply. This is the single largest supply chain risk for Oklo’s commercial scale-up.

Powerhouse form factor: Oklo’s Aurora is physically compact — roughly the size of a large industrial building rather than a conventional nuclear plant campus. The small footprint, below-grade installation, and passive safety features make the Aurora suitable for behind-the-meter deployment at industrial or datacenter sites without the security perimeter requirements of a traditional nuclear plant. This is the form factor that makes the datacenter power use case feasible.

NRC licensing history — the 2022 rejection: Oklo submitted its original Combined License Application (COLA) to the NRC in 2020. The NRC rejected it in January 2022, citing insufficient information on accident source terms, the classification of fuel-handling facilities, and other gaps. This rejection was a significant setback — Oklo spent 2022–2024 addressing the NRC’s identified deficiencies. The company completed the NRC’s pre-application readiness assessment in 2025 and plans to re-submit Phase 1 of a new COLA. The NRC accepted Oklo’s Principal Design Criteria topical report in 15 days (vs. typical 30–60 days) — a signal of improved NRC engagement.

The 75 MW uprate: Oklo originally designed the Aurora as a 1.5 MW to 15 MW microreactor. In 2024–2025, the company uprated the design to 75 MWe specifically to address AI datacenter power demand. This is a substantial design change (5× scale-up) that introduces new engineering uncertainties and likely requires additional NRC review relative to the original submission.

Notable Developments

• 2025-09: Groundbreaking at INL for first Aurora powerhouse; Kiewit announced as lead constructor. (Oklo newsroom)
• 2025-07: Oklo and Vertiv announce strategic collaboration for integrated nuclear power + thermal management systems for hyperscale datacenters. (Power Engineering)
• 2025-07: Three nonbinding agreements for ~4,750 MW with datacenter operators; total order book reaches ~18 GW.
• 2025: NRC pre-application readiness assessment completed; Principal Design Criteria topical report accepted in 15 days (accelerated). (Oklo)
• 2025: Siemens Energy selected as steam cycle equipment provider for Aurora Unit 1. (Power Engineering)
• 2024-2025: Aurora uprated from 15 MW to 75 MWe to address AI datacenter demand. (Data Center Dynamics)
• 2024-05: Oklo goes public via SPAC merger on NYSE (OKLO).
• 2024: Switch 12 GW supply agreement announced. (Utility Dive)
• 2022-01: NRC rejects original COLA — cites insufficient information on accident source terms, fuel-handling facility classification. Oklo begins rework.
• 2013: Founded by Jacob DeWitte and Caroline Cochran.

Key People

Sam Altman — Chairman

• LinkedIn: Public figure; well known
• Role: Chairman of Oklo Board; co-founder of the SPAC (AltC Acquisition Corp) that merged with Oklo
• Background: CEO of OpenAI; Y Combinator alum; nuclear energy advocate; long-standing Oklo investor since early funding
• Notes: Altman’s chairmanship gives Oklo extraordinary access to AI hyperscaler CEOs and board-level relationships with the exact customers Oklo is courting. It also creates a perception risk — Altman’s high profile means any Oklo setback receives disproportionate media attention, and OpenAI’s relationship with Crusoe (Abilene/Stargate) means Altman straddles two competing nuclear supply strategies.

Jacob DeWitte — Co-Founder and CEO

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacobdewitte
• Role: Co-founder and CEO since founding
• Background: Nuclear engineering degree; PhD candidate at MIT Nuclear Science & Engineering (did not complete); founded Oklo directly out of academic nuclear research; has led the company through its SPAC listing and 2022 NRC rejection

Caroline Cochran — Co-Founder and COO

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/carolinecochran
• Role: Co-founder and COO
• Background: Aerospace engineering background; MIT; nuclear power systems research; operational leadership alongside DeWitte since founding

People — Last Reviewed: 2026-03-25

Supply Chain Position

⚑ HALEU supply — existential risk at scale: The DOE fuel agreement covers Unit 1 only. Centrus’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio is licensed for HALEU production but is operating at a demonstration/low rate. Scaling Centrus to supply commercial HALEU for 18 GW of Oklo capacity would require facility expansion that has not been funded or permitted. This is the most critical unresolved dependency in Oklo’s entire commercial story. Until HALEU supply is contracted at scale, the order book is largely aspirational.

⚑ Order book quality — binding vs. nonbinding: Of Oklo’s ~18 GW order book, the vast majority are LOIs (Letters of Intent) or framework agreements that are explicitly nonbinding. The Wyoming Hyperscale 100 MW / 20-year PPA is the most commercially concrete (a signed PPA). Switch’s 12 GW “supply agreement” and Meta’s ~15 GW “Master Power Agreement” are large in MW terms but the binding nature of these instruments has not been publicly confirmed. Track conversion from LOI to binding PPA as the key commercial maturity indicator.

Claim Verification

Claim: ~18 GW order book

Status: Total of announced agreements; largely nonbinding LOIs; misleading as a commercial revenue forecast

Supporting: Agreements with named counterparties (Meta, Switch, Equinix, etc.) are publicly announced; the counterparties are real AI datacenter operators with genuine long-term power needs

Refuting / questioning:

• “Order book” implies binding commitments in most industries; most of Oklo’s agreements are explicitly nonbinding
• Switch’s 12 GW agreement at the company’s current ~4 MW of live data center capacity would require Switch to grow by ~3,000× — illustrating the speculative nature of long-duration LOIs
• Oklo has not yet demonstrated a single operating Aurora unit; customers making 20-year supply agreements are betting on technology that has never operated commercially

Summary: The order book demonstrates genuine customer interest and marketing traction. It should not be read as contracted revenue. Track binding PPA conversion rate as the real commercial signal.

Claim: Commercial operation “late 2027 or early 2028” for INL Unit 1

Status: Aspirational; NRC licensing is the critical path dependency

Supporting: Groundbreaking completed (September 2025); Kiewit (credible constructor) engaged; Siemens Energy on steam cycle; INL site has existing nuclear infrastructure

Refuting / questioning:

• 2027–2028 commercial operation requires completing the NRC COLA (Phase 1 submission ~2025, Phase 2 and full review likely 24–36 months minimum) — this timeline is very aggressive; NRC has historically taken 3–5 years to review novel reactor COLAs
• The 75 MWe uprate from the original design introduces additional engineering work that wasn’t in the original (rejected) COLA
• The 2022 NRC rejection demonstrated that Oklo’s NRC engagement has been more contentious than initially projected

Summary: 2028 is possible only if the NRC review moves at unprecedented speed for a novel design. 2029–2030 is a more realistic expectation. Track Phase 1 COLA acceptance and NRC review schedule as the key milestones.

Sources

• Oklo — oklo.com
• Oklo NRC Readiness Assessment Complete — Oklo (2025)
• Oklo Boosts Aurora to 75 MW for AI Datacenters — Data Center Dynamics
• Oklo / Switch 12 GW Supply Agreement — Utility Dive
• Oklo 750 MW Data Center LOIs — ANS Nuclear Newswire
• Oklo / Vertiv Strategic Collaboration — Power Magazine
• Oklo / Siemens Energy Steam Cycle — Power Engineering
• Wyoming Hyperscale 100 MW 20-yr PPA — Data Center Frontier
• Oklo Wikipedia