US-based Oklo and Sweden’s Blykalla have formed a strategic partnership focused on technology collaboration, supply-chain coordination, and regulatory knowledge-sharing. Under the agreement, Oklo will co-lead Blykalla’s next investment round through an approximately $5m commitment, strengthening their collaboration to accelerate advanced nuclear commercialisation.
Oklo is developing the Aurora powerhouse, a sodium-cooled fast reactor that uses metal fuel and builds on the design and operating heritage of the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), which operated at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) from 1964 to 1994. Oklo was awarded fuel recovered from EBR-II by the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2019 and has completed two of four steps for DOE authorisation to fabricate its initial core at the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility (A3F) at INL.
Blykalla’s SEALER (Swedish Advanced Lead-cooled Reactor) design is a fast compact reactor with passive safety. Each reactor will have a 55 MWe capacity, which can be increased by installing multiple units at the same location. The reactor is designed with the smallest possible core that can achieve criticality in a fast spectrum using 19.9% enriched nitride fuel. Blykalla broke ground in February for the construction of an electrical small modular reactor pilot facility near Oskarshamn to test proof of concept of its SEALER technology.
Through a Joint Technology Development Agreement, Oklo and Blykalla will share insights on materials, components, non-nuclear supply chain sourcing, fuel fabrication, and licensing best practices across the US and Sweden. Through increased cooperation and coordination, both developers aim to reduce costs and schedule risks.
Together the fast reactor companies will examine shared suppliers for reactor-agnostic equipment to improve availability, schedules, and cost. Oklo may also supply select components for Blykalla’s direct use to strengthen a vertically integrated, potentially cross-border, supply chain. Oklo may also provide fuel fabrication services to Blykalla. Oklo and Blykalla will pursue targeted R&D and regulatory analysis to boost reliability and lower lifecycle costs without requiring design changes.
“This partnership strengthens the growing advanced reactor ecosystem in the face of unprecedented global demand for power,” said Oklo co-founder & CEO Jacob DeWitte. “By teaming up on suppliers, materials data, and licensing insights, we can shorten critical paths to deployment and stay focused on delivering reliable, clean power to customers, while recognising that we have more to gain from cooperating than from competing.”
Blykalla CEO Jacob Stedman said: “Oklo and Blykalla share a practical, industrial approach to bringing advanced fission to market. Coordinated component sourcing and targeted joint R&D can unlock efficiencies for both companies and help our suppliers plan for scale, regardless of which side of the Atlantic they are on.”
