Oklo, a US, California based company, specialising in clean power technology and nuclear fuel recycling, has entered into a preferred supplier agreement with Germany’s Siemens Energy.
The agreement is aimed at supplying power conversion systems for Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse, a move that aligns with Oklo’s goal to market advanced fission technology efficiently.
The agreement, which builds on a previously established memorandum of understanding, is a significant milestone for Oklo, as it aims to enhance production scalability, cost efficiency, and rapid deployment in response to the increasing customer demand.
Under the agreement, Siemens Energy will supply its power conversion and supporting systems, which is anticipated to bring about efficiencies through economies of scale.
By standardising equipment across its powerhouses, Oklo expects to achieve cost savings in manufacturing, construction, operations, and maintenance.
The strategy of using shared spare parts across deployments is projected to minimise maintenance downtime, bolster reliability, and improve overall performance.
Oklo chief product officer Alex Renner said: “We are committed to delivering advanced fission clean energy solutions that are both innovative and economically viable.”
The partnership underscores Oklo’s market attention, which has reported customer engagement exceeding 1.3GW in non-binding letters of intent.
Oklo’s co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte said: “We prioritise cost in our engineering process to fully leverage the advantages of fast fission technology.
Our technology is based on proven designs, allowing us to utilize small, pre-fabricated, and non-pressurised components made from readily available materials and existing supply chains, further reducing costs and complexity.
“Oklo’s fast fission technology utilises liquid metal as a coolant. Liquid metal’s high boiling point allows the reactor to operate at high temperatures without being pressurised.
This design enables the use of commonly available alloys, benefiting from existing large-scale supply chains already producing nearly identical parts.”
Oklo is backed by billionaire Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI.
This Santa Clara, California-based nuclear reactor developer has stated that its first facility will become operational in 2027, reported Bloomberg.
