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Oklo: The Story of Nuclear's Startup Revolution
I. Introduction: When Silicon Valley Meets the Atom
Picture a Saturday morning in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sometime in the early 1990s. A young boy and his father make their weekly pilgrimage: picking up donuts, then heading to the National Nuclear Science Museum. The boy's favorite exhibit isn't flashy—it's a simulated nuclear fuel pellet, smaller than a pencil eraser. The display explains that this tiny cylinder contains the energy equivalent of a ton of coal or 149 gallons of oil. For this child, it was a revelation that would shape everything that followed.
That boy was Jacob DeWitte, and today he leads Oklo Inc., a company that represents perhaps the most audacious bet in the nuclear industry's modern history. Oklo Inc. is a designer of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) based in Santa Clara, California, founded in 2013 by Jacob and Caroline DeWitte. But to call Oklo merely an SMR company would be to miss the point entirely.
Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, affordable energy at scale, establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes, and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert nuclear waste into clean energy.
The company name itself carries profound meaning. In 1972, French scientists examining uranium samples from mines in Gabon, Africa, made an astonishing discovery: uranium deposits showed signs of having spontaneously undergone nuclear fission—1.7 billion years ago. Nature had built its own nuclear reactor in the Oklo region, one that ran safely for millennia. The message embedded in the name is clear: nuclear fission isn't some dangerous human invention. It's as old as the Earth itself.
Today, Oklo finds itself at a remarkable confluence of forces: an AI revolution demanding unprecedented electricity, a climate crisis requiring decarbonization at scale, and a regulatory environment finally warming to nuclear innovation. The company's stock has been a Wall Street sensation, but behind the price movements lies a story of MIT engineers who dared to bring startup thinking to the most heavily regulated industry on Earth.
This is the story of how two nuclear engineers convinced Silicon Valley that the future of AI runs on nuclear power—and what it tells us about the future of energy itself.
II. The Natural Reactor: Origin of the Name & Nuclear Context
To understand Oklo's significance, one must first understand what they're trying to accomplish—and why it matters that nature beat humanity to nuclear fission by nearly two billion years.
In 1972, French nuclear physicist Francis Perrin was analyzing uranium samples from the Oklo mines in Gabon when he noticed something peculiar. The uranium-235 concentration was lower than expected—0.717% instead of the standard 0.720%. That might seem trivial, but to a nuclear physicist, it was a smoking gun. That missing uranium-235 had been consumed—by nuclear fission reactions that occurred naturally when the ore deposits were rich enough and wet enough to sustain chain reactions, approximately 1.7 billion years ago.
The Oklo natural reactors operated intermittently for hundreds of thousands of years, producing roughly 100 kilowatts of thermal power. More importantly, they demonstrated something profound: nuclear fission can be stable, contained, and self-regulating over geological timescales. The fission products remained largely in place. It was, in effect, a proof of concept written by the planet itself.
The Rise and Fall of American Nuclear
Nuclear energy in America has lived through several distinct eras. The Atoms for Peace era of the 1950s and 1960s saw ambitious dreams of nuclear-powered everything. The nation's commercial fleet grew rapidly, peaking at 112 operating reactors. But then came the disasters that would define nuclear's reputation for a generation.
Three Mile Island (1979) released negligible radiation but triggered mass public fear. Chernobyl (1986) demonstrated what could happen when Soviet-era reactors met human error and institutional dysfunction. Fukushima (2011) showed that even in technologically advanced Japan, earthquakes and tsunamis could overwhelm backup systems.
By 2020, America's nuclear capacity had declined, construction pipelines had effectively frozen, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had become an agency optimized for overseeing an aging fleet rather than licensing new designs. The industry's last completed project, Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Georgia, took over a decade and exceeded its original budget by billions of dollars.
The EBR-II Legacy
Yet within this landscape of stagnation, a different nuclear tradition persisted. Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) was a sodium-cooled fast reactor designed, built and operated by Argonne National Laboratory at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho.
Experimental Breeder Reactor-II ceased operations in 1994 and helped advance fuels and materials research for new reactor technologies. The data from these experiments are being used today, more than 30 years later, to advance fuels and materials research for new reactor technologies.
What made EBR-II legendary in nuclear circles was a 1986 demonstration that would become foundational to Oklo's safety philosophy. In April 1986, two special tests were performed on the EBR-II, in which the main primary cooling pumps were shut off with the reactor at full power (62.5 megawatts, thermal). By not allowing the normal shutdown systems to interfere, the reactor power dropped to near zero within about 300 seconds. No damage to the fuel or the reactor resulted.
This wasn't an accident—it was a deliberate demonstration that fast reactors could shut themselves down safely, without any operator intervention, simply through the physics of thermal expansion. As the reactor heated up, its fuel and structure expanded, naturally reducing the nuclear reaction. The reactor was, in essence, self-stabilizing.
For DeWitte and his eventual co-founder Caroline Cochran, this wasn't just interesting history. It was the technical foundation upon which a company could be built. The question wasn't whether the physics worked—EBR-II had proven that decades ago. The question was whether a startup could navigate the regulatory, commercial, and financial challenges to bring this technology to market.
III. Founding & Early Years: MIT to Y Combinator (2013–2015)
The MIT Genesis
DeWitte came to MIT in 2008 and studied advanced reactors during work for his master's degree. For his PhD, he considered ways to extend the lifetime and power output of the large reactors already in use around the world.
Before co-founding Oklo Inc., Jacob DeWitte amassed nearly 15 years of experience in the nuclear technology sector. He has worked at prominent organizations such as GE, Sandia National Labs, Urenco US, and the naval reactor research laboratories. His expertise spans various reactor designs, including sodium fast reactors, molten salt reactors, and next-generation PWRs. At GE, he led core design on the PRISM sodium fast reactor, and at Sandia, he contributed to the development of irradiation facilities.
But while DeWitte studied the big reactors of today, he found himself increasingly drawn to something different. DeWitte began thinking about starting an advanced nuclear company while he was still a PhD student. In 2013 he partnered with Cochran.
At MIT, DeWitte had met his co-founder Caroline Cochran, who was also in nuclear engineering and had a background as a mechanical engineer. They started really digging into how they would do something advanced in nuclear with a startup.
Caroline Cochran brought complementary strengths. Caroline received her S.M. in Nuclear Engineering from MIT, a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. She was one of the youngest recipients of the University of Oklahoma Regent's Alumni Award.
DeWitte, who is chief executive, and Cochran, who is chief operating officer, founded the company in 2013 when DeWitte was a Ph.D. student at MIT studying nuclear engineering. Cochran had graduated from MIT with a master's degree in nuclear engineering in 2010.
What bound them together was a shared frustration with the nuclear industry's approach to innovation. "Newness was favorable because it shed some of the legacy inertia around how things have been done in the past, and I thought that was an important way of modernizing the commercial approach," says Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte SM '11, PhD '14.
The Tesla Playbook
From the beginning, DeWitte approached nuclear differently than his predecessors. "The idea was if we take this technology, we start small and use an iterative approach to tech development and a product focused approach, kind of like what Tesla did with the Roadster [electric car model] before moving to others," DeWitte says. "That seemed to yield an interesting way of getting some initial validation points and could be done at a higher cost efficiency, so less cash needed, and that could incrementally fit with the venture capital financing model."
This was radical thinking for nuclear. The industry's standard approach involved massive projects, decade-long timelines, and billions in government support. DeWitte was proposing something more akin to a software startup: iterate, test, learn, improve.
Perhaps the most unique aspect of Oklo is its approach to commercialization. In many ways, the Silicon Valley-based company has cultivated a startup mindset, eschewing government grants to raise smaller, venture capital-backed funding rounds and iterating on its designs as it moves through the application process much more quickly than its predecessors.
Y Combinator (Summer 2014)
The audacity of bringing nuclear energy to Y Combinator—an accelerator known for software companies and consumer apps—cannot be overstated. DeWitte and Cochran ended up applying about a year later, and fortunately were accepted into the Summer 2014 class.
DeWitte was curious about what YC would be like, because they hadn't done any energy projects yet. But it ended up being phenomenal. They didn't really get to benefit from getting specific advice on technical stuff—they're building a nuclear reactor, after all. But it was so helpful on the vision side, and on how to build a great business.
Also, the receptiveness to what they were doing was so different out in Silicon Valley than it was on the East Coast. On the East Coast, they'd often be met with skepticism, people asking, "Is that safe?"
Sam Altman's Entry
Sam Altman met Jake and Caroline from Oklo in 2013. He recruited Oklo to Y Combinator in 2014 and additionally invested in the business in 2015, becoming Chairman.
Altman, then president of Y Combinator, saw in Oklo something that few others did: a team capable of applying startup principles to one of the most complex technical and regulatory challenges imaginable. "I think the two most important inputs to a great future are abundant intelligence and abundant energy," Altman said.
The company received venture capital from various investors, including Hydrazine Capital, founded by Sam Altman with Peter Thiel as its sole limited partner; Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz; Ron Conway of SV Angel; Kevin Efrusy of Accel Partners; and Tim Draper of Draper Associates.
Oklo raised small funding rounds in 2013 and 2014 as the company went through the MassChallenge and Y Combinator startup accelerators.
For investors watching from the sidelines, the question was obvious: could a company with a few million dollars in seed funding really take on the nuclear industry? The answer would take years to emerge, and it would require navigating the most formidable regulatory apparatus in American industry.
IV. The Aurora Design: Technology Deep Dive
The Core Innovation
Oklo's approach centers on its Aurora "powerhouse"—a term the company uses deliberately to distinguish its product from the imposing cooling towers and massive containment structures associated with conventional nuclear plants.
Conventional reactors use moderators like water to slow neutrons down before they split, or fission, uranium and plutonium atoms. Oklo's reactors won't use moderators, enabling the construction of much smaller plants and allowing neutrons to move faster.
This makes Aurora a "fast reactor"—fast referring to the speed of the neutrons, not the reactor's construction timeline. Oklo's sodium-cooled Aurora powerhouse is a fast-neutron reactor that uses heat pipes to transport heat from the reactor core to a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system to generate electricity.
The Aurora-INL features a 50-75 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor that builds directly on the design and operating heritage of the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), which operated successfully at the same Idaho site from 1964 to 1994.
The power output has evolved as the design matured. Oklo initially marketed a 1.5 MWe microreactor version of the Aurora but has now expanded its capacity offerings from 15 MWe to 100 MWe.
Liquid Sodium Cooling
One of Aurora's most distinctive features is its use of liquid sodium as a coolant instead of water. This allows the reactor to operate at much higher temperatures without the sprawling infrastructure of traditional plants. The project is a 75‑MWe sodium‑cooled fast reactor using metal fuel derived from legacy Experimental Breeder Reactor‑II (EBR‑II) material.
The sodium cooling enables what the industry calls "passive safety"—safety features that work through physics rather than active mechanical systems. The pool-type reactor design provides passive safety: by providing a fluid which readily conducts heat from the fuel to the coolant, and which operates at relatively low temperatures, the EBR-II takes maximum advantage of expansion of the coolant, fuel, and structure during off-normal events which increase temperatures. The expansion of the fuel and structure in an off-normal situation causes the system to shut down even without human operator intervention.
The HALEU Fuel Advantage
Faster-moving neutrons can sustain nuclear fission with a different type of fuel. Compared to traditional reactors, Oklo's fuel source will be enriched with a much higher concentration of the uranium-235 isotope, which fissions more easily than the more common uranium-238. The added proportion of uranium-235 allows Oklo's reactor to run for longer time periods without having to refuel.
This fuel is called HALEU—high-assay low-enriched uranium. HALEU is low-enriched uranium that contains over 5% and less than 20% uranium-235, the fissile isotope in nuclear fuel that produces energy during a fission chain reaction. All 96 nuclear reactors currently operating in the U.S. use fuel enriched with less than 5% uranium-235. Several U.S. companies are developing microreactor technologies that would use HALEU and need access to the fuel in order to demonstrate and prove out designs.
Oklo's early fuel supply comes from a remarkable source: recycled fuel from the EBR-II itself. Oklo Inc. will receive 5 metric tons of HALEU as part of a cooperative agreement with INL that was competitively awarded in 2019.
The fuel will be fabricated using high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) recovered from used fuel from the Department of Energy Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II), which operated at Idaho National Laboratory from 1964 to 1994. Oklo has been granted access to 5 tonnes of HALEU as part of a cooperative agreement with the laboratory that was competitively awarded in 2019.
Safety Features
The safety philosophy built into Aurora represents a fundamental departure from conventional nuclear plants, which rely heavily on active systems, redundant backups, and human operators.
"Aurora's inherent safety allows us to use proven, commercially available power systems like Siemens Energy's turbine technology. That design philosophy shortens timelines, lowers costs, and turns advanced nuclear into a deployable product."
For investors evaluating Oklo's risk profile, the key question is whether this technology can achieve regulatory acceptance and commercial deployment at scale. The answer began taking shape in 2016, when Oklo made its first major regulatory push.
V. Inflection Point #1: First-Mover on NRC Licensing (2016–2020)
The Regulatory Pioneering
In 2016, the Department of Energy (DOE) did some innovating of its own, beginning an industry-led effort to build new approval processes for advanced nuclear reactor applications. Two years later, Oklo piloted the new structure.
This was an extraordinary achievement. The process resulted in Oklo developing a novel application and becoming the first company to get a combined license application to build a power plant accepted by the NRC since 2009. "We had to look at regulations with a fresh eye and not through the distortion of everything that had been done in the past," DeWitte says.
To appreciate the significance, consider that the NRC's regulatory framework had essentially been frozen for decades. Its processes were designed for large light-water reactors—the industry standard since the 1950s. There were no templates, no established procedures, no precedents for licensing a small, fast reactor powered by recycled fuel.
Idaho National Laboratory
The Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) became crucial to Oklo's path forward. Idaho National Laboratory announced it would provide Oklo Inc. with access to recovered spent nuclear fuel to aid the company in its efforts to develop and demonstrate the Oklo Aurora. The California-based company applied for access to the material through a competitive process INL launched earlier this year. Notifications of selection were made to applicants in December 2019.
Oklo was granted access to fuel material through a competitive DOE process launched in 2019. In 2019, the company received both a site-use permit at INL and access to fuel recovered from the historic Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II).
This was a significant federal endorsement. The DOE was effectively saying: we believe in this technology enough to provide both a site and the fuel to demonstrate it.
The Application
In March 2020, Oklo submitted its combined license application to the NRC. Oklo submitted its application in March 2020 for the advanced reactor, to be built at the Idaho National Laboratory site. The NRC accepted the application that June, using a novel, two-step approach to docketing the application to allow Oklo to fill in identified information gaps before developing a review schedule.
Oklo's was the first combined construction and operation licence for an advanced fission technology to be accepted for review by the US regulator.
For the nuclear industry, this represented a potential breakthrough. If Oklo could successfully navigate the licensing process, it would create a template for the dozens of other advanced reactor companies waiting in the wings. The question was whether the NRC—an institution built for an earlier era—could adapt.
VI. Inflection Point #2: The NRC Rejection & Pivot (2022)
The Shock
Federal regulators denied the application from Silicon Valley nuclear power start-up Oklo to build and operate its advanced nuclear reactor, dubbed Aurora, in Idaho. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission filed the decision on Thursday and cited lack of sufficient information about potential accidents and safety measures.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied, without prejudice, Oklo Power, LLC.'s application to build and operate the company's Aurora compact fast reactor in Idaho. The denial is based on Oklo's failure to provide information on several key topics for the Aurora design. The company is free to submit a complete application in the future.
For Oklo's founders, the news came as a genuine surprise. "It was pretty much as much of a surprise to us as anyone else. We weren't given any heads up at all before it basically went public yesterday," Cochran told CNBC. "We really didn't have any indication that this was coming."
The Reason
The NRC's explanation was detailed and unsparing. "Oklo's application continues to contain significant information gaps in its description of Aurora's potential accidents as well as its classification of safety systems and components," NRC Director Andrea Veil said. "These gaps prevent further review activities."
The NRC staff has determined that between March 2020, when Oklo submitted its custom combined license application under 10 CFR Part 52, and the present, Oklo has repeatedly failed to provide substantive information in response to NRC staff requests for additional information (RAIs) on the maximum credible accident (MCA) for the Aurora design, the safety classification of structures, systems, and components (SSCs), and other issues needed for the NRC staff to establish a schedule and complete its technical review.
Critics of Oklo were blunt. "Oklo simply refused to give the NRC the basic information that the agency needs to assess compliance with its regulations and its legal mandate to protect public health, safety, and the environment," UCS Director of Nuclear Power Safety Edwin Lyman said. "The company asserted that its reactor was so small and so safe that it didn't need to play by the same rules as those used to license larger reactors."
The Response and Lessons
Rather than retreating, Oklo reframed the setback as education. Oklo Inc. submitted a Licensing Project Plan (LPP) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The LPP outlines Oklo's proposed engagement to support future licensing activities.
The rejection taught Oklo a critical lesson about the nuclear industry: there are no shortcuts. The NRC's demanding standards exist for reasons—both legitimate safety concerns and institutional inertia. Success would require working with the system, not around it.
Congress has directed the agency to streamline its byzantine process but the community of advanced reactor developers are unsure whether it can do so and in time to make a difference for their planned efforts to go to market. Yet, Oklo is confident this time the firm will prevail.
For investors, the rejection represented a significant setback but not a fatal blow. The denial was "without prejudice"—meaning Oklo could resubmit with improved documentation. The underlying technology wasn't in question; only the completeness of the application.
VII. Inflection Point #3: The Fuel Recycling Bet (2021–2024)
Vertical Integration Strategy
While navigating regulatory challenges, Oklo was building another competitive moat: fuel recycling. This wasn't just a technical capability—it was a strategic bet that could differentiate Oklo from every other nuclear startup in the world.
"Fuel recycling can impact how quickly we decarbonize. Since used fuel is about 95% recyclable, you can transform waste into a viable resource," said Jacob DeWitte, Co-founder and CEO of Oklo. "There is enough energy content in today's used fuel to power the entire country's power needs for over 100 years without carbon emissions."
DOE Awards
The Department of Energy recognized Oklo's potential with a series of competitive awards. Oklo Inc. has been awarded a $5 million cost-share project in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne), Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and Deep Isolation from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The project is funded under the ARPA-E Optimizing Nuclear Waste and Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems (ONWARDS) program.
Over the last year, Oklo has been selected by the U.S. DOE for four cost-share projects, totalling over $15 million to commercialize advanced reactor fuel from nuclear waste.
Oklo has won over $15 million in U.S. Department of Energy awards for recycling.
The Tennessee Facility
In September 2025, Oklo announced its most ambitious recycling initiative yet. Oklo Inc. announced plans to design, build, and operate a fuel recycling facility in Tennessee as the first phase of an advanced fuel center through investment totaling up to $1.68 billion and aiming to create more than 800 high-quality jobs.
Oklo Inc., an advanced nuclear technology company, will invest nearly $1.7 billion to build a fuel recycling facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, creating over 800 jobs. The facility, located on a 247-acre site at the Oak Ridge Heritage Center, will be the first privately funded nuclear fuel recycling center in the U.S., turning used nuclear fuel into a domestic supply for advanced reactors.
"Fuel is the most important factor in bringing advanced nuclear energy to market," said Jacob DeWitte, Oklo co-founder and CEO. "By recycling used fuel at scale, we are turning waste into gigawatts, reducing costs, and establishing a secure U.S. supply chain that will support the deployment of clean, reliable, and affordable power."
The scale of untapped energy is staggering. The more than 94,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel stored at power plant sites around the country contain considerable reserves of recyclable fuel. The energy that can be unlocked from this material via recycling is equivalent to about 1.3 trillion barrels of oil, or five times the reserves of Saudi Arabia.
For Oklo, fuel recycling represents a strategic advantage that competitors cannot easily replicate. It addresses fuel supply chain concerns, creates an additional revenue stream, and aligns with broader government goals for nuclear waste management.
VIII. Inflection Point #4: Going Public via SPAC (2023–2024)
The SPAC Announcement
Sam Altman announced the partnership that provides the opportunity for AltC's shareholders to become investors in Oklo and fund the first deployment of the Aurora powerhouse.
Oklo was founded in 2013 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates DeWitte and Caroline Cochran. The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (OKLO) in May 2024 through a merger with Altman's AltC special-purpose acquisition company—leaving the nuclear start-up with more than $300 million in proceeds to fund company growth.
The choice of a SPAC raised eyebrows. By 2023, SPACs had developed a poor reputation, with many post-merger companies trading well below their initial valuations. But Oklo's situation was different: the company had a clear technology roadmap, government relationships, and growing market demand for clean baseload power.
The Rocky Debut
Oklo has become one of the most richly valued pre-revenue companies in the U.S.
Despite the long-term promise, the market debut was turbulent. Trading was halted multiple times for volatility in the first hour. The initial price movements reflected the speculative nature of investing in a company that had yet to deploy a single commercial reactor.
Why SPAC Made Sense
For Oklo, the SPAC structure offered several advantages. It provided significant capital without the traditional IPO roadshow, allowed detailed forward-looking projections that wouldn't be permitted in a traditional public offering, and aligned the company with Altman's reputation in the AI community—a crucial marketing advantage given the emerging opportunity in data center power.
Oklo is in the process of merging with special-purpose acquisition company AltC Acquisition Corp., an entity established by OpenAI's Altman specifically to take the company public. The deal gives Oklo an $850M valuation and provides it with $500M in capital to develop a reactor needed to produce nuclear fuel.
IX. Inflection Point #5: The AI Data Center Boom (2024–2025)
The AI Energy Crisis
The emergence of artificial intelligence as an industrial force has created an unprecedented energy challenge. AI training and inference require enormous amounts of electricity, and the hyperscalers—Microsoft, Google, Amazon—have realized that their growth ambitions are constrained by power availability.
Demand for nuclear power is growing in the U.S. as technology companies and other data center developers search for reliable, carbon-free electricity to power artificial intelligence. Amazon and Alphabet announced investments in small nuclear reactor technology in October.
The numbers are staggering. A single AI model training run can consume as much electricity as a small city. Data centers are projected to consume 8% of U.S. electricity by 2030, up from 2.5% today. And unlike regular computing workloads, AI requires consistent, 24/7 power—exactly what nuclear provides.
Oklo's Positioning
"Advanced nuclear is going to be standard for data centers in the future," said Brian Gitt, Oklo's head of business development.
Oklo has moved aggressively to capture this opportunity. In an S4 filing with the SEC, the company revealed a deal with data center colocation firm Equinix. Following a letter of intent signed in February, Equinix made a $25 million prepayment to Oklo for the supply of power.
The letter of intent is for Equinix to purchase power from Oklo's planned 'powerhouses' to serve Equinix's data centers in the US on a 20-year timeline. Equinix will have the right to renew and extend PPAs for additional 20-year terms.
The Switch Deal
In December 2024, Oklo announced what it called "one of the largest corporate clean power agreements ever signed." Oklo and Switch have signed one of the largest corporate power agreements in history, a 12-gigawatts non-binding Master Power Agreement.
Oklo Inc. and Switch, a premier provider of AI, cloud and enterprise data centers, have signed a non-binding Master Power Agreement to deploy 12 gigawatts of Oklo Aurora powerhouse projects through 2044.
The two companies announced a groundbreaking Master Power Agreement on Dec. 18 to establish a framework for the collaboration. Under its terms, Oklo is set to develop, build, and operate powerhouses across the U.S. through a series of power purchase agreements (PPAs). While non-binding at this stage, the agreement envisions that individual binding agreements "will be finalized as project milestones are reached."
Sam Altman Steps Down
In April 2025, Oklo announced a governance change that signaled the company's growing independence—and its commercial ambitions. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is stepping down as chair of advanced nuclear reactor developer Oklo to avoid a conflict of interest ahead of talks between his company and the nuclear startup on an energy supply agreement.
"As Oklo explores strategic partnerships to deploy clean energy at scale, particularly to enable the deployment of AI, I believe now is the right time for me to step down," said Altman.
Jacob DeWitte, Oklo's chief executive and cofounder, will serve as chair and board member, the company announced. Altman's departure from Oklo is expected to open doors for strategic nuclear partnerships to support the deployment of "energy at scale, particularly to enable the deployment of AI."
The move freed Oklo to pursue deals with any AI company, including potentially OpenAI itself—a conflict that would have been problematic with Altman serving as chairman.
Stock Performance
Oklo Inc (OKLO) has delivered a 359.50% change over the past year, with a 52-week range between 17.14 and 193.84.
Oklo stock price has nosedived in the past few weeks, erasing over $12 billion in value as the market cap dropped from $25.7 billion in October to $13.7 billion. It has plunged from a high of $193 in October to $88 today.
The volatility reflects the market's uncertainty about Oklo's path to commercial success. The opportunity is clear; the execution remains to be proven.
X. The Business Model: Selling Power, Not Reactors
The PPA Model
Oklo's business model represents perhaps its most significant departure from traditional nuclear industry practice. Rather than selling reactor designs or licensing technology, Oklo plans to own and operate its plants, selling power through long-term purchase agreements.
This Master Agreement highlights Oklo's business model of simplifying clean energy access by selling power, not power plants. It offers customers a direct, flexible pathway to clean, reliable, and affordable advanced nuclear energy.
Oklo says its reactors, called Aurora, have smaller and simpler designs that will range from 75 megawatts to as much as 100 megawatts or more. The company plans to build and operate the plants, directly selling power to customers under long-term contracts.
This approach has several strategic advantages:
- Recurring Revenue: Long-term PPAs provide predictable cash flows once plants are operational
- Customer Simplicity: Customers purchase power without nuclear licensing or operational complexity
- Asset Ownership: Oklo retains ownership of valuable long-lived assets
- Learning Curve: Operating multiple plants enables continuous improvement
Vertical Integration
Oklo has moved aggressively to integrate multiple parts of the nuclear value chain. Oklo announced it has signed a letter of intent to acquire Atomic Alchemy Inc., a U.S.-based company specializing in the production of radioisotopes. Oklo's fast reactor and fuel recycling technologies produce valuable coproducts, such as radioisotopes, through their respective processes.
Oklo proposes to acquire Atomic Alchemy for $25 million in an all-stock transaction.
Oklo expects to begin generating revenue from radioisotope production following the proposed acquisition, with initial revenues anticipated prior to completing the first radioisotope production reactors. This potential additional revenue stream is expected to diversify Oklo's income sources.
The radioisotope angle is strategically brilliant. According to the British Institute of Radiology, as the need for radioisotopes continues to rise, supply has struggled to keep pace due to ageing reactor infrastructure and a fragmented global supply chain, which at present is dominated by Russia. Oklo says it aims to address this gap through reliable, US-based radioisotope production facilities.
By vertically integrating fuel recycling, power generation, and radioisotope production, Oklo creates multiple revenue streams and reduces dependency on external suppliers—a significant competitive moat if successfully executed.
XI. Current State & Recent Developments (2025)
Groundbreaking at Idaho National Laboratory
On 22 September 2025, Oklo held a groundbreaking ceremony at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for its first commercial powerhouse, Aurora‑INL, under the DOE's new Reactor Pilot Program.
Construction will be led by Kiewit Nuclear Solutions, a major industrial EPC contractor, under a master services agreement designed to tap its experience with large, complex projects. This is crucial symbolically: unlike many advanced‑nuclear start‑ups that are still in paper‑reactor mode, Oklo now has a shovel in the ground at a specific site with government backing.
Oklo Inc., a nuclear energy startup, plans to switch on at least one of its three reactors in a US program by mid-2026, meeting a deadline aimed at accelerating the industry.
Regulatory Progress
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho Operations Office has approved the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement (NSDA) for the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility (A3F) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), selected to participate in the DOE's Advanced Nuclear Fuel Line Pilot Projects.
The NSDA, the first under the DOE's Fuel Line Pilot Projects, was approved in just under two weeks and helps demonstrate a new authorization pathway that has the potential to unlock U.S. industrial capacity, advance national energy security.
Oklo Inc. and its subsidiary, Atomic Alchemy Inc., have been selected for three of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) reactor pilot projects under the newly established Reactor Pilot Program.
The Reactor Pilot Program aims to demonstrate criticality in at least three test reactors by America's 250th birthday on July 4, 2026.
Siemens Partnership
Oklo Inc. and Siemens Energy have signed a binding contract for the design and delivery of the power conversion system for Oklo's Aurora powerhouse.
This partnership on key components combines Oklo's expertise in advanced fission technology with Siemens Energy's industry-leading steam turbine and generator systems to deliver clean, reliable electricity using proven industrial equipment. Under the contract, Siemens Energy will conduct detailed engineering and layout activities for a condensing SST-600 steam turbine, an SGen-100A industrial generator, and associated auxiliaries.
The design deliberately pairs advanced reactor technology from Oklo with proven, commercial turbine‑generator equipment from Siemens Energy, aiming to cut risk, shorten timelines, and make SMR projects more financeable.
Q3 2025 Financial Results
Oklo's Q3 2025 earnings on 11 November showed an EPS loss of –$0.20, missing consensus expectations of –$0.13 (a negative surprise of about 54%). The stock initially slid more than 6% in aftermarket trading on the news.
Building a fleet of reactors and fuel‑fab facilities will cost far more than the $1.2 billion Oklo currently holds. The company's own filings and press releases flag the need for substantial additional capital – equity, project finance or both – and warn of potential dilution for existing shareholders.
XII. Bull Case: The Nuclear Renaissance Unfolds
For bulls, Oklo represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in a company positioned at the center of multiple converging megatrends.
Market Opportunity
The AI data center market alone could require hundreds of gigawatts of new electricity generation. Traditional power sources—gas, solar, wind—face either carbon constraints or intermittency issues. Nuclear offers 24/7 baseload power with zero carbon emissions, making it the logical choice for climate-conscious tech companies.
The agreement increases Oklo's order book from a previously announced 2.1 GW to "approximately 14 GW."
If Oklo can convert even a fraction of its pipeline to binding agreements, the revenue opportunity is substantial. At estimated power prices and utilization rates, 14 GW of capacity could represent billions in annual revenue once fully deployed.
Regulatory Tailwinds
The company may have the benefit of the 2024 ADVANCE Act, which introduces key provisions that could expedite the process, including fee reductions—potentially cutting Oklo's hourly licensing costs by more than 50%—and faster NRC reviews for reactors with unique safety features, like Oklo's design. In addition, the company is "well-positioned to receive regulatory awards that would make licensing early plants essentially free."
President Trump's nuclear executive orders this year have set a new course for American energy — modernizing regulation, streamlining reactor testing, deploying reactors for national security, and strengthening the nuclear industrial base.
Competitive Position: Applying Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers
- Process Power: Oklo's integrated approach to fuel recycling, reactor operation, and radioisotope production creates complex operational capabilities difficult for competitors to replicate
- Cornered Resource: Access to EBR-II fuel material and relationships with DOE/national laboratories represent scarce assets
- Counter-Positioning: Incumbents in the nuclear industry are structurally unable to adopt Oklo's startup-like approach without cannibalizing existing businesses
- Scale Economies: Once operational, fixed development costs spread across multiple deployments
- Network Effects: Limited in the nuclear space
- Switching Costs: 20+ year PPAs create significant customer lock-in
- Brand: Growing recognition as the leading advanced nuclear pure-play
XIII. Bear Case: The Risks Are Real
For bears, Oklo represents the classic pre-revenue story with extraordinary execution risk.
No Revenue, Significant Losses
The company has yet to generate any revenue and suffered a net loss of about $25 million in the second quarter and $55 million for the year ending in June.
Oklo not only has not generated revenue but has not signed a contract with a customer to deliver electricity or heat, according to its regulatory filings.
Non-Binding Agreements
Many of Oklo's agreements, including those with AI‑data‑center operators and the Air Force, are non‑binding or still at the "notice of intent" stage. Timelines to first power (currently guided around 2027–2028 for Aurora‑INL) could slip for regulatory, technical or funding reasons.
The 12 GW Switch deal, while impressive in scale, remains non-binding. Converting letters of intent into actual power delivery requires successful reactor deployment, regulatory approval, and years of flawless execution.
Valuation Concerns
Oklo Inc.'s stock valuation is far ahead of fundamentals, with a P/B ratio of 22.6x (1,113% above the sector) and no sales projected until 2027.
Oklo stock price has also crashed as investors increase their short positions on the company. Data compiled by Koyfin shows that the short interest stands at 9.20%, up sharply from 0.03% in June this year. Increasing short interest is a sign that many investors are placing bids against the company.
Technical and Regulatory Risk
The fact remains that Oklo has never operated a commercial reactor. The EBR-II heritage provides confidence in the underlying physics, but translating laboratory success into commercial deployment at scale involves challenges that cannot be fully anticipated.
Currently, the only commercially operating liquid-metal fast reactors are in Russia, with experimental units in operation in China and India, all of which took decades to develop.
Capital Requirements
For financing, Oklo is trying to raise up to $1 billion in additional capital.
Building a fleet of reactors will require capital far beyond current resources, likely resulting in dilution for existing shareholders.
XIV. Key Performance Indicators for Investors
For investors tracking Oklo's progress, three metrics matter most:
1. Binding PPA Conversion Rate
The single most important indicator is Oklo's success in converting letters of intent into binding power purchase agreements. The company's order book currently shows approximately 14 GW of potential capacity, but virtually all of this is non-binding. Watch for announcements of actual executed PPAs with defined terms, pricing, and delivery timelines.
2. Regulatory Milestone Achievement
Oklo faces multiple regulatory gates: NRC combined license application acceptance, construction permits, and operating licenses. Each milestone de-risks the investment thesis. The key dates to watch are: - Combined license application submission (expected 2025) - DOE Reactor Pilot Program milestones (target July 4, 2026) - Aurora-INL operational date (guided 2027-2028)
3. Cash Burn vs. Capital Raise Trajectory
With significant losses and enormous capital requirements ahead, investors must monitor Oklo's path to additional financing. Watch quarterly cash positions, operating expense trends, and any announced capital raises. The terms of future financing—particularly dilution—will significantly impact returns.
XV. Material Risks and Regulatory Considerations
Legal/Regulatory Overhangs
Oklo operates in perhaps the most heavily regulated industry in America. Key considerations include:
- NRC Licensing: The company's 2022 rejection demonstrated that regulatory approval is not guaranteed
- Proliferation Concerns: The design relies on metal‑fuel, sodium‑cooled fast reactors and recycled plutonium‑bearing fuel, a combination that has drawn criticism from non‑proliferation experts and some nuclear engineers, even as Oklo and DOE argue that the fuel form is highly resistant to misuse.
- HALEU Supply Chain: Availability of enriched uranium fuel remains a constraint for the entire advanced nuclear industry
Accounting Considerations
As a pre-revenue company, Oklo's financial statements primarily reflect research and development expenses, administrative costs, and stock-based compensation. Investors should scrutinize: - Capitalization policies for development costs - Stock-based compensation dilution - Treatment of DOE awards and grants
XVI. Conclusion: Nuclear's Startup Revolution
Oklo's story is ultimately about whether startup thinking can transform the most heavily regulated, capital-intensive industry in America. The company has accomplished things that would have seemed impossible a decade ago: bringing nuclear to Y Combinator, raising venture capital for reactor development, and building relationships with the world's largest technology companies.
Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and CEO of Oklo, in the Oval Office of the White House as President Donald Trump signs executive orders advancing nuclear energy policy, Friday, May 23, 2025.
The husband-and-wife team of Jacob DeWitte and Caroline Cochran, who co-founded a nuclear fission company, are new billionaires. The shares of their 12-year-old company named Oklo are up 47% over the last week and more than 400% over the past six months. That's largely because of the growing belief that nuclear energy could power the energy-hungry artificial intelligence boom.
But the hard work lies ahead. Converting non-binding agreements into operating reactors, navigating the NRC licensing process, raising billions in capital, and actually delivering power to customers—these challenges have broken larger, better-funded companies.
Sam Altman has said Oklo "is the best positioned player to pursue commercialization of advanced fission energy solutions."
Whether that proves true depends on execution, regulation, and market conditions that remain highly uncertain. What is clear is that Oklo has positioned itself at the center of one of the most important energy transitions in a generation.
For the boy who once marveled at that fuel pellet in Albuquerque—now CEO of a multi-billion dollar public company—the dream of abundant, clean nuclear energy is closer than ever. The question is whether the reality will match the vision.
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