Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) shares surged as much as 7% Tuesday before paring gains after the nuclear technology developer announced a safety design agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to support the design, construction and operation of its first Aurora reactor at Idaho National Laboratory.
The pact advances the Aurora powerhouse into the next phase of execution under DOE oversight through the Reactor Pilot Program, which aims to accelerate deployment of advanced nuclear reactors.
Oklo initially broke ground on the project in September 2025.
Oklo designs small modular reactors (SMRs) intended to offer a safer, more efficient alternative to traditional large-scale nuclear plants.
The modular approach enables factory fabrication, site transport and installation, potentially cutting construction timelines and costs while allowing scalable deployment as power demand rises.
The DOE agreement arrives amid heightened government and private-sector focus on nuclear energy to meet growing electricity needs, particularly from data centers supporting artificial intelligence.
In January 2026, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) signed a landmark deal with Oklo for a 1.2-gigawatt nuclear energy campus in Pike County, Ohio, including early prepayment funding.