Datacenters Line Up For 750MW of Oklo's Nuclear-Waste-Powered Small Reactors (theregister.com) 6
Datacenter operators are increasingly turning to small modular reactors (SMRs) like those developed by Oklo to meet growing energy demands. According to The Register, Oklo has secured commitments from two major datacenter providers for 750 MW of power, pending regulatory approvals. It brings the firm's planned nuclear build-out to 2.1 gigawatts. From the report: Oklo's designs are, from what we understand, inspired by the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) and utilize liquid-metal cooling. They are capable of producing between 15MW and 50MW of power, depending on the configuration. That means Oklo's datacenter customers plan to deploy somewhere between 15 and 50 of the reactors to satisfy their thirst for electricity. However, they may be waiting a while.
According to Oklo's website, the nuclear startup hopes to bring its first plant online before the end of the decade. Before that can happen, though, Oklo will need to obtain approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- something for which it says it's already submitted applications. In 2022, the watchdog rejected an Oklo plan to build a small atomic reactor in Idaho, citing "significant information gaps" on safety-related measures.
That said, Oklo has lately received support from US government agencies including the Department of Energy (DoE), which has awarded a site use permit, while Idaho National Laboratory -- home of EBR-II -- has provided fuel material to support the efforts. Speaking of fuel, Oklo's designs may not suffer from the challenges other SMR startups, like Terrapower, have encountered. Oklo's designs are intended to run on recycled nuclear waste products from traditional reactors. In fact, the startup is currently working with DoE national labs to develop new fuel recycling technologies. Oklo hopes to bring a commercial-scale recycling plan online by the early 2030s.
According to Oklo's website, the nuclear startup hopes to bring its first plant online before the end of the decade. Before that can happen, though, Oklo will need to obtain approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- something for which it says it's already submitted applications. In 2022, the watchdog rejected an Oklo plan to build a small atomic reactor in Idaho, citing "significant information gaps" on safety-related measures.
That said, Oklo has lately received support from US government agencies including the Department of Energy (DoE), which has awarded a site use permit, while Idaho National Laboratory -- home of EBR-II -- has provided fuel material to support the efforts. Speaking of fuel, Oklo's designs may not suffer from the challenges other SMR startups, like Terrapower, have encountered. Oklo's designs are intended to run on recycled nuclear waste products from traditional reactors. In fact, the startup is currently working with DoE national labs to develop new fuel recycling technologies. Oklo hopes to bring a commercial-scale recycling plan online by the early 2030s.
Waste transport (Score:2)
How are they getting the waste on-site for use as a fuel? It's been impossible to move waste to Yucca Mountain or elsewhere due to NIMBYs blocking transport efforts.
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, liquid metal cooled reactors... (Score:3)
Seriously... just about every attempt at building a liquid metal cooled reactor has ended in either abject failure or outright disaster, from the Santa Susana field lab meltdown through the Monju coolant leak. It's nature's way of saying, "this is a really bad idea."
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. But the nuclear fanatics are not rational. They want their magic machine, even if it kills them. And if it were just _their_ money and lives, I would be fine with that, I am not opposed to idiots bankrupting or killing themselves by sheer disconnect and stupidity. Unfortunately, this affects others as well and that just makes the whole insanity massively unethical.
Pipe dream (Score:2)
Nobody has a proven SMR, let along an even working one. That means at the very least this is 20 years away. But since nuclear tech is a _lot_ harder and the hardware fails in surprising places, probably more like 30-50 years, if it materializes at all. No, military reactors do _not_ count as they have an entirely different safety and efficiency profile and are massively more expensive.
This is just the basically "criminal enterprise" nuclear industry trying to get the cash flowing their way again.
International waters (Score:2)
Idea: Build nuculear or other power generation system on a ship, anchor in international waters far far away from NIMBY regulatory reach, and then run a cable to power the mainland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
The Australia–Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink) is a proposed electricity infrastructure project that is planned to include the world's largest solar plant, the world's largest battery, and the world's longest submarine power cable.
Initial plans forecast that a new solar farm in the Northern Ter