Atomic Alchemy, a subsidiary of US-based Oklo, has received Department of Energy (DOE) approval of a Nuclear Safety Design Agreement (NSDA) for its planned Groves Isotopes Test Reactor and a materials licence from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
The NDSA for the Groves Isotopes Test Reactor in Texas was approved under DOE’s Reactor Pilot Program authorisation pathway. Atomic Alchemy’s reactor was one of 11 projects selected for DOE support under the RRP, which was established by President Trump’s May 2025 Executive Order (EO) 14301, Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy. Atomic Alchemy is aiming for criticality for the Groves facility by 4 July – one of the targets of the EO.
The NDSA follows the signing of the Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) for the facility in January. Under the framework, the OTA formalised the partnership and launched the authorisation work required for the facility. It provided a “modern framework” for building and operating advanced nuclear plants, supporting a faster path to deployment than traditional NRC licensing.
Following the OTA, Atomic Alchemy withdrew its previously submitted NRC construction permit for a different facility (Meitner-1) to concentrate all near-term resources on building the Texas facility. With the OTA and the subsequent NSDA now in place, the project has officially entered the execution phase, which includes submitting a Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) for comprehensive DOE review.
The Groves Isotopes Test Reactor is a “versatile light water reactor” (VIPR technology) designed to produce high-value isotopes for cancer treatment and space exploration, moving away from a reliance on ageing foreign infrastructure. It is a pilot-scale facility to validate isotope production processes and gather operational data for future commercial plants.
The Versatile Isotope Production Reactor (VIPR) technology was developed by Thomas Eiden, who founded Atomic Alchemy in 2018. Its design is based on the proven “gold standard” of light-water-cooled, pool-type research reactors. This choice was intentional to ensure high reliability and a simpler regulatory path.
The technology is designed to produce over 40 different isotopes including high-demand medical tracers and cancer treatments as well as industrial and space-exploration power sources.
The NRC materials licence to Atomic Alchemy does not authorise reactor operation but allows the company to handle, process, and distribute radioactive isotopes from its Idaho Radiochemistry Laboratory.
The NRC licence allows Atomic Alchemy to begin the commercial side of its business recovering and refining medical and industrial isotopes while the DOE approval moves the physical Groves reactor in Texas toward construction and testing.
The licence authorises the company to receive, possess, use, store, and conduct chemical and/or mechanical processing, repackaging, manufacturing, and distribution activities involving up to 2 Curies (Cis) of Radium-226. It also authorises possession, use, and storage of sealed sources of Cobalt-60 and Americium-241 for instrument and shield calibration and testing.
The isotopes will be received and processed at Atomic Alchemy’s Idaho Radiochemistry Laboratory in Idaho Falls. Distribution activities are limited to appropriately authorised recipients consistent with NRC requirements.
Operating experience from the laboratory will help develop processes, procedures, and systems that can be applied to Atomic Alchemy’s planned multi-reactor isotope foundry. The foundry is planned to include up to four non-power VIPR systems with a capacity of around 15 MWt each.
The Groves facility will be “vertically integrated.” The VIPR creates the raw isotopes, and the adjacent Idaho Radiochemistry Laboratory will refine them into medical-grade products on the same campus. This solves the “decay problem” where short-lived isotopes lose their potency during long-distance shipping. If successful, Oklo plans to deploy “Groves-style” campuses globally.
