The US Department of Energy (DOE) has approved the Conceptual Safety Design Report (CSDR) for the Okla’s Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). US-based Oklo, which is developing the Aurora powerhouse, a liquid-metal-cooled fast microreactor, in July completed of the first end-to-end demonstration of the key stages of its advanced fuel recycling process, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and INL.
The project is supported by a $5m cost-share award from the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) under the Optimising Nuclear Waste & Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems (ONWARDS) Program. It aims to facilitate the deployment of a commercial-scale advanced fuel recycling facility.
The CSDR was first submitted earlier this year to DOE’s Idaho Operations Office, which is responsible for the nuclear safety and regulatory authority for the project. The approval of the design concept is an important step in demonstrating advanced fuel recycling technologies. CSDR approval is part of DOE’s comprehensive review process. The next steps include the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis before construction and the Documented Safety Analysis after construction and commissioning.
This approval is a key milestone as Oklo pursues its goal of utilising recovered nuclear material to fuel its first commercial Aurora powerhouse. Oklo received a site permit in 2019 from DOE to build its first Aurora facility at INL. In 2020, Oklo submitted a combined licence application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to build and operate the Aurora microreactor at INL. However, NRC denied the application, citing the company’s failure to provide sufficient design information.
A revised application was submitted in 2022. In September, Oklo finalised agreements with DOE to begin site characterisation of their preferred location for the Aurora powerhouse reactor to support their combined licence application to NRC. Oklo anticipates the first commercial Aurora powerhouse will be deployed in 2027.
The company is developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with DOE and US National Laboratories. At INL’s Fuel Conditioning Facility, used nuclear fuel material is currently being recycled experimentally into fuel for the Aurora powerhouse.
The Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility is expected to fabricate fuel for the Aurora plant. It will use high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU recovered from used Experimental Breeder Reactor-II fuel. Oklo has been granted access to 5 tonnes of HALEU as part of a cooperative agreement with INL that was competitively awarded in 2019. The newly fabricated fuel will be used to power the initial Aurora powerhouse reactor core. DOE will retain ownership of the HALEU both during and after its use.
“We are proud of our collaboration with INL and DOE as we move closer to turning on our first commercial plant that uses this recovered nuclear fuel in just a few years,” said Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte.
“The approval of the CSDR is a critical step toward fabricating fuel for Oklo’s first commercial deployment,” said Dr Jess Gehin, INL’s Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear Science & Technology. “As the nation’s nuclear energy research laboratory, we are committed to partnering with companies like Oklo to advance fission technologies and deliver clean energy solutions.”
Oklo will continue to work with INL to complete the fuel facility design and obtain DOE approval before the start of construction. Oklo has also received DOE support through several GAIN (Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear) vouchers to advance its Aurora powerhouse design, in addition to additional funding to demonstrate recycling technologies through ARPA-E.
