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Atomic Insights

Atomic energy technology, politics, and perceptions from a nuclear energy insider who served as a US nuclear submarine engineer officer

Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors

Catching Oklo — a rising star!

December 14, 2021 By Rod Adams 41 Comments

Artist rendering of an Aurora Power House

Update: On Jan 6, 2022, the NRC denied Oklo’s COA application “without prejudice.” Power published an article titled NRC Dismisses Application for Oklo Advanced Nuclear Reactor that provides a solid early summary of the action and its implications.

A new generation of clean energy is on the horizon

Oklo is a clean energy company that has focused on developing a product and service that people want to buy. In 2020, they made history by submitting, and having had the NRC accept, their combined license application for their Aurora powerhouse design.

Over the last couple of years, Oklo has also made notable strides on multiple fronts. They were approved to use a specific site on the Idaho National Laboratory campus to build their first unit. The arrangement includes the grant of a long term site use permit. An environmental assessment is already underway.

Oklo further recognized that the INL was storing waste from the EBR-II project and knew that this waste would be well suited to be the fuel for their reactor. They have secured an agreement with the INL to supply this waste and approval from the DOE to use it as fuel in their reactor.

While making rapid progress with the fundamental ingredients for the development of a new breed of nuclear power, Oklo has also been quietly building the kind of business that appeals to investors. There is considerable evidence for this, as Oklo has been very successful in tapping into the deep pools of venture capital available in Silicon Valley and beyond.

Founded in 2013 by Jake Dewitte and Caroline Cochran, a pair of MIT graduates, Oklo has passed through a number of important technical milestones faster than many nuclear professionals imagined was possible. Along the way, they have also developed a keen understanding of their relationship with venture capital and have honed their ability to convey their vision to investors—an essential ingredient for entrepreneurs competing for funding.

Taking a long-term approach to valuation

In an early step that virtually no other advanced reactor venture has done, Oklo’s founders applied to and were accepted into the Y Combinator venture accelerator program located in Silicon Valley. Recognizing that much of the investment activity was happening there, the founders moved their company to Silicon Valley. There, they joined a broader community of entrepreneurs, honed skills and built relationships that have proven very important, enabling them to successfully raise seed and Series A venture capital.

Fast forward and we find that Oklo has come a long way. The group introduced the world to the Aurora powerhouse in December 2019, showcasing a stunningly gorgeous architectural design that lit up the minds of everyone imagining what 4th Generation nuclear might look like. Simultaneously, Oklo has managed its own growth with great care and has created a corporate culture and brand image that exudes the values of its youthful founders.

Oklo built a diverse, integrated, efficient team, with just a couple dozen employees well into its 7th year of operation. Nevertheless, Oklo invested its time generously towards good citizenship within the nuclear community, working during four years of pre-application interactions with the NRC to define improved review parameters, educating the industry about the production needs of Gen IV developers, and participating broadly in discussions to explain advanced nuclear to the public.

Incorporating values into their reactor design, Oklo created an open space within the plant building to be accessible by the community. While it might seem wasteful, such features can win over the remote communities that comprise Oklo’s initial target customers evaluating how well the Aurora replaces their dirty diesel generators. In thinking creatively about how advanced nuclear can help remote communities improve quality of life, Oklo has successfully lined up considerable customer interest.

A First of a Kind

Oklo is developing a “First of a kind” (FOAK) advanced energy system, which typically involves unusual costs and risks that can scare away investors. Yet, Oklo’s simple, safe and small reactor passively cools itself with a design that has already been well proven.  They’ve based their modern implementation on the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-2), that ran for 30 years, providing a wealth of performance data that has helped the NRC regulator get comfortable with the design’s technical capabilities.

Thus, while some might think that Oklo’s first-ever 4th Gen application to the NRC might never be approved, the NRC accepted the application even though it was radically shorter than prior applications submitted for Gen III plants. The review process is expected to take roughly three years, rather than four to complete. This means that Oklo could have an approved certification as early as 2023, though the NRC is never bound by expectations or schedules for the completion of its work (hence, vague time adjectives are the only truthful ones for estimating NRC review completions.)

Meanwhile, at the INL, Oklo has already begun to develop relationships within this highly supportive and deeply technical community where they will have access to considerable expertise and lab resources. The protected national laboratory site allows safety and security concerns to be thoroughly addressed while the plant overcomes the “not demonstrated” objections raised by those wanting to see it first, to believe it.

All these factors combine to make Oklo an extremely enticing opportunity for investors to consider. Oklo, itself an impressive first-of-a-kind venture, has demonstrated an ability to make considerable progress with a lean and efficient organization. By working smartly and being willing to invest in bringing people along, Oklo has avoided many of the pitfalls, delays and expenses associated with nuclear development in the past. Having set the stage to have construction commence on the first Aurora unit by 2024, with completion conservatively estimated by 2025, Oklo is an advanced nuclear venture that is operating on a time scale that works for venture capital investors.

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Investing, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, Micro Reactors, New Nuclear, Small Nuclear Power Plants

Oklo has filed first combined license application (COLA) with the NRC since 2009

March 18, 2020 By Rod Adams 15 Comments

Aurora artist rendering (Image credit: Oklo)

Oklo, Inc. announced yesterday that its combined license application (COLA) to build and operate an Aurora at INL was undergoing acceptance review at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Key project specifics

Oklo’s Aurora is a 1.5 MWe liquid metal fast reactor with heat pipes to move fission heat out of the reactor core and into the secondary power generation system.

The complete system will be housed in the basement of the Aurora powerhouse. Oklo expects to spend approximately $10 million to build the complete power plant and structure. That cost doesn’t include fuel or land; both of those will be leased from the Department of Energy under separately announced programs. The requested license and the initial fuel load both have a life of 20 years.

The expected operating cost for the first of a kind generator is $3 million/year. No licensed operator will be required during normal operation; two trained site monitors will maintain the powerhouse and the secondary power generation system.

After the plant has completed its scheduled operational period, used fuel will be returned to the DOE, the power station will be decommissioned and the permitted site will be vacated.

As part of the application process, the company has made a commitment to purchase appropriate financial assurance instruments to cover expected decommissioning costs.

The application covers five potential sites at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Four of the five are just outside of the fence for the Material Test Facility (MTF) and one is separated by less than a mile from the MTF. Aurora sits on approximately 1/4 of an acre of land, but a laydown area and parking facilities increase the size of each site to approximately one acre.

According to the submitted Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR), the exclusion zone, the low population zone and the emergency planning zone for the reactor are all defined by the powerhouse walls. Extensive safety analysis did not identify any credible event that would release fission products or increase radiation levels outside of the building.

Splash opportunity lost

Embedded in yesterday’s announcement was the fact that Oklo submitted its COLA during the week of March 9-13..

It’s likely that the company had timed its submission to make a splash at the NRC’s annual Regulatory Information Conference (RIC), which was scheduled for March 10-13. That event, with approximately 3,000 registered attendants, would have been the best attended U.S. nuclear industry gathering of the year. Unfortunately, it, like so many other interesting and important events was cancelled to reduce the potential exposure of attendants to the COVID-19 virus.

There is little doubt that announcing the COLA during the RIC would have created a flurry of reactions from both nuclear industry insiders and from the energy press that normally covers the RIC. I regret not having had the opportunity to witness and participate in the buzz around the bar at the Bethesda North Marriott.

Important markers laid down

Even though the well timed splash never occurred, no one should overlook the importance of Oklo’s ground-breaking announcement. For the first time since 2009, a company has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review an application to build and operate a nuclear electricity production facility.

There are several additional progress markers associated with this submission. It is the first non-LWR (light water reactor) COL application ever. The company submitting the application is not a standard utility company, but a newly formed, wholly owned subsidiary of a venture-funded start up company founded in 2013.

The application filed is a prototype for a new license review process that has yet to be formalized but has been under development for several years at the NRC. Internally, it is referred to as a Part 53 process.

Aside: That nickname is derived from the current Part 50 and Part 52 processes. It’s unclear what happened to Part 51, if there ever was such a designation. End Aside.

Though there is still a lengthy journey ahead, Oklo has already broken some barriers and created a new paradigm. It should be abundantly clear that fission has the potential to serve energy markets that are not either huge central station electric power plants or military ships.

It is also becoming clear that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has internalized the guidance given by Congress and the Administration in recently enacted legislation. It is striving to regain its position as the world’s best nuclear regulatory body, with “best” having a expansive meaning along several different vectors.

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, New Nuclear, Smaller reactors

U.S. Shouldn’t Depend On Russian Reactors. Restore Our World Class Fast Flux Test Facility

March 10, 2017 By Rod Adams

Senator Carper (D-DE) asked each witness at a March 8 hearing about NEIMA – Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act – to give one suggestion for improving the bill. If asked, my answer would be to include findings that emphasize the importance of U.S. government-owned testing facilities that are capable of supporting the NRC licensing […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, FFTF, Fuel Recycling, Irradiation, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors

FFTF restoration would provide the fastest, most efficient path to fast spectrum neutron testing

February 28, 2017 By Rod Adams

If a U.S.-based researcher or reactor designer needs to irradiate fuel or material with fast neutrons for testing, their current options are extremely limited. No domestic test facility can provide enough fast neutrons to do anything more than slowly irradiate a small quantity of tiny samples. Anything more requires the full cooperation of either Russia […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, mothball, Politics of Nuclear Energy

Sad-ending story of EBR-II told by three of its pioneers

August 24, 2015 By Rod Adams

During the period between 1961 and 1994, an extraordinary machine called the Experimental Breeder Reactor 2 (EBR-II) was created and operated in the high desert of Idaho by a team of dedicated, determined, and distinguished people. In 1986, that machine demonstrated that it could protect itself in the event of a complete loss of flow […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic history, Atomic Pioneers, Atomic politics, Breeder Reactors, Fuel Recycling, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, Politics of Nuclear Energy, Pro Nuclear Video, Technical History Stories

Integrating six decades of learning about fast reactors

May 29, 2015 By Rod Adams

I learned some important new concepts yesterday from two of the leaders of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) project – John Sackett and Yoon Chang. Among other things, they informed me — as a member of a group of about 35 other attendees at a workshop titled Sustainable Nuclear Energy for the Future: Improving Safety, […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic Pioneers, Breeder Reactors, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors

Russia continues sustained fast breeder reactor effort

June 30, 2014 By Rod Adams

On June 26, 2014, the 60th anniversary of the start of the 5 MWe Obninsk reactor that was the first reactor in the world to routinely supply electricity to a commercial power grid, Russia started up the latest in a series of sodium-cooled fast reactors, the BN-800. This new nuclear plant is an evolutionary refinement […]

Filed Under: Breeder Reactors, Fuel Recycling, International nuclear, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, New Nuclear

Fantasy Crossfire debate: Ed Lyman versus Rod Adams on fast breeder reactors

November 8, 2013 By Rod Adams

CNN has done a masterful job of seizing the opportunity provided by Robert Stone’s thought-provoking Pandora’s Promise to generate a passionate discussion about the use of nuclear energy — a vitally important topic — at a critical time in American history. The decision makers at that somewhat fading network should be congratulated. Of course, generating […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Antinuclear activist, Breeder Reactors, Fuel Recycling, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, Plutonium

Hydrocarbon-fueled establishment hates idea of plutonium economy

November 7, 2013 By Rod Adams

In the above clip from a recent interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. describes how Pandora’s Promise advocates that canceling the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) project in 1994 was a mistake. RFK Jr., a man from an iconic family that has been a part of the US moneyed Establishment for the better […]

Filed Under: Antinuclear activist, Breeder Reactors, Fossil fuel competition, Fuel Recycling, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, Plutonium

Can nuclear energy save Detroit?

July 24, 2013 By Rod Adams

Update: (August 2, 2013) – American Atomics is now claiming that there is no site in Detroit that is large enough to house the infrastructure that they are planning to build. Here is a link to their post. http://safereactor.org/post/57104636966/no-room-in-detroit It is a pretty incredible claim for a company that currently has no facilities. Supposedly the […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic Entrepreneurs, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, New Nuclear, Smaller reactors

Recycling used nuclear fuel – Argonne research explained in 4 min video

February 22, 2013 By Rod Adams

One of the most frequently used arguments against using nuclear energy is “the waste issue.” When people ask me, “what do you do with the waste”, my standard answer is “recycle it.” The truly curious then ask for more information. A few days ago, Nuclear Street shared a video produced by Argonne National Laboratory that […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Fuel Recycling, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors, Pro Nuclear Video

FFTF – What could a functional Fast Flux Test Facility do for the US?

December 10, 2012 By Rod Adams

A friend shared the above video about the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF). I thought it was worth sharing and discussing, though I am not sure how current it is. The FFTF was not a shining example of government efficiency; it was initially conceived in the 1960s, finally completed in the late 1970s, started up […]

Filed Under: Advanced Atomic Technologies, Atomic history, FFTF, Liquid Metal Cooled Reactors

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