Nuclear Company Oklo Receives Startup Authorization for Groves Reactor, A Key Step In Its Regulatory Journey
Nuclear startup Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) announced on July 25, 2026, that it received 'startup authorization' from the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) for its Groves Reactor in Texas under the Reactor Pilot Program (RPP). This authorization allows Oklo to load nuclear fuel, conduct startup testing, and proceed toward first criticality. The milestone marks a significant step in Oklo's decade-long regulatory journey, which began in 2016. The RPP, enacted by executive order in 2025, aims to expedite nuclear reactor deployment. The Groves Reactor project went from groundbreaking to startup authorization in just over 10 months, which CEO Jacob DeWitte called the fastest such timeline for a full-scale, privately funded reactor in history. Oklo has completed three of five DoE RPP regulatory steps, with an NRC audit in progress before a commercial license request.
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