Oklo's Aurora powerhouse, the reactor design at the center of the company's Ohio and Idaho projects, is a sodium-cooled fast reactor that uses heat pipes to transfer heat from the core to a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion loop. The design draws on experience from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, which operated at Idaho National Laboratory from 1964 to 1994.

How the Aurora design works

Aurora units are fast reactors with sodium coolant. Instead of using a conventional steam cycle, heat pipes move heat from the reactor core to a supercritical CO2 loop that generates electricity. The approach is intended to simplify the balance of plant and reduce the size of the power conversion system, although it remains novel at commercial scale.

The EBR-II heritage is central to Oklo's regulatory and technical case. EBR-II was a sodium-cooled fast reactor that demonstrated passive safety and fuel recycling concepts during its three decades of operation. Oklo has said its first Aurora reactor will be built at Idaho National Laboratory, where EBR-II operated.

Aurora units are fast reactors with sodium coolant: heat pipes transfer heat from the core to a supercritical carbon dioxide loop that generates electricity. The design is based on experience from the EBR-II experimental breeder reactor operated at Idaho National Laboratory from 1964 to 1994.

Fuel requirements and HALEU supply

Aurora reactors require HALEU, which is uranium enriched between 5% and 20% U-235. Oklo's first Aurora at INL will use HALEU recovered from EBR-II fuel, allocated by the U.S. Department of Energy after a competitive process launched in 2019. At the time, no U.S. commercial facilities could produce HALEU.

The Centrus agreements will supply HALEU for the first phase of the 1.2 GW Ohio campus, future Aurora deployments, and later refueling of the Aurora-INL reactor. Deliveries from Centrus's American Centrifuge Plant in Pike County, Ohio, are scheduled to begin in 2029.

For the HALEU market, Aurora illustrates why fuel supply has become a gating factor for advanced reactor deployment. The reactor's technical readiness is only one part of the equation; developers also need enrichment capacity, fuel fabrication, and regulatory approvals to align.

This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.