US-based special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) AltC Acquisition Corp stockholders have voted to approve the business combination between AltC and fission technology company Oklo. Almost 100% of the votes cast at the meeting, representing approximately 72.7% of AltC's outstanding shares, voted to approve the transaction. AltC stockholders also voted to elect seven directors to the post-closing board of directors, comprised of proven industry leaders with deep operational, technical, and financial expertise, as well as strong networks across important end-markets to Oklo. These included:

  • Sam Altman (chairman) – current Chairman of Oklo and CEO of AltC;
  • Michael Klein – current AltC Chairman;
  • Jacob DeWitte – co-founder and CEO of Oklo;
  • Caroline Cochran – co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Oklo;
  • Lieutenant General (Ret) John Jansen – United States Marine Corps;
  • Richard Kinzley – retired Chief Financial Officer of Black Hills Corporation;
  • Chris Wright – current CEO of Liberty Energy.

The strong support from AltC's stockholders will result in Oklo receiving over $306m of gross proceeds upon closing of the transaction, representing almost 100% of the AltC cash in trust prior to the redemption deadline.

Upon closing of the transaction, Oklo will have a strong balance sheet through the combination of the AltC proceeds and a recent $25m customer prepayment. Oklo has received strong customer interest in its Aurora powerhouse designed to meet the rapidly expanding electric power needs of the artificial intelligence, data centre, energy, defence, and industrial markets.

The combined company will be named Oklo Inc, and it is anticipated that shares of its class A common stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 10 May.

AltC was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganisation or similar business combination with one or more businesses.

Oklo is developing the Aurora microreactor, which uses heat pipes to transport heat from the reactor core to a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system to generate electricity. It will use HALEU fuel. Oklo says the reactor builds on the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) and space reactor legacy. EBR-II features a hexagonal fuel element with a sealed heat pipe and a passive air-cooling system. Oklo initially marketed a 1.5 MWe microreactor version of the Aurora, but has now expanded its capacity offerings from 15 MWe to 100 MWe.

Oklo received a site permit in 2019 from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to build its first Aurora facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). In 2020, Oklo submitted a combined licence application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to build and operate the Aurora microreactor at INL. However, NRC denied the application, citing the company’s failure to provide sufficient design information. A revised application was submitted in September 2022.

Image: Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse (courtesy of Oklo)