The completion of the environmental compliance process means Oklo Inc can now begin site characterisation for its first commercial advanced fission power plant in Idaho.

Oklo's preferred site for its first Aurora powerhouse at INL (Image: Oklo)

Completion by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) of the process addressing DOE requirements for the site and the resulting Environmental Compliance Permit, following on from the recent finalisation of a Memorandum of Agreement with the DOE, initiates site characterisation activities, Oklo said.

"These approvals represent pivotal steps forward as we advance toward deploying the first commercial advanced fission plant," Oklo CEO and co-founder Jacob DeWitte said. "With this process complete, we can begin site characterisation."

California-based Oklo received a site use permit from the DOE in 2019 to build and operate a prototype of its Aurora reactor - which will be a commercial power plant selling power to customers - at INL: according to company information, it intends to deploy its first commercial unit before the end of the decade. It also intends to build a facility to fabricate fuel for the liquid metal-cooled fast reactor plant at the same site. The DOE approved the Conceptual Safety Design Report for the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility in September.

The memorandum of agreement finalised with DOE's Idaho Operations Office in September grants Oklo access to conduct site investigations at its preferred site, focusing on geotechnical assessments, environmental surveys and infrastructure planning.

The 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. It uses metallic fuel to produce about 15 MWe as well as producing usable heat, and can operate on fuel made from fresh HALEU or used nuclear fuel.