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7h ago

Oklo’s Groves Test Reactor Reaches First Criticality

It enables low-power isotope runs and operational data collection to inform future reactor designs, with commercial licensing, advanced fuel supply and financing remaining separate challenges.

Groves Isotope Test Reactor facility in Lockhart, Texas. Oklo said Aug. 6 that the low-power test reactor achieved first criticality at 9:19 p.m. ET Aug. 5, less than a year after groundbreaking. The privately financed reactor, built from a greenfield site on private land, is intended to demonstrate reactor design, construction, startup, and operations in support of Oklo’s future isotope-production facilities. Courtesy: Oklo Inc.
Via fool.com

Overview

  • The Groves isotope test reactor in Caldwell County, Texas, reached first criticality on Thursday, August 6, 2026, achieving a controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at low power.
  • The Department of Energy approved Groves under its Reactor Pilot Program and gave startup authorization that cleared the way for core loading and the recent startup tests.
  • Groves is a pool-type, water-cooled test reactor built to produce medical and research isotopes and to generate hands-on operational data for Oklo’s future commercial designs.
  • Oklo used commercially sourced low-enriched uranium to avoid advanced-fuel bottlenecks, and the quick build from groundbreaking to criticality has drawn positive investor attention.
  • Despite the milestone, scaling to revenue-generating power reactors will still require separate NRC commercial licensing, reliable advanced-fuel (HALEU) supplies, and major financing for larger projects.