Project Details
About This Project
Executive Overview
The Oklo Eielson AFB Micro-Reactor Pilot is a 5 MW advanced fission microreactor project under development at Eielson Air Force Base, 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, developed by Oklo Inc. under a potential 30-year firm-fixed-price power purchase agreement with the U.S. Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Air Force issued a Notice of Intent to Award to Oklo on May 30, 2025, initiating formal contract negotiations, contingent on Oklo securing a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license. The reactor is designed to deliver both electricity and steam to the base, which has a total power requirement of approximately 35 MW and has experienced temporary outages in 2020 and 2024. Commercial operation is targeted for end of 2028, and under the programme structure, Oklo will finance, design, license, install, operate, maintain, and decommission the facility at its own cost, with revenue generated through the PPA.
How It Works & Differentiation
Oklo's Aurora powerhouse is a fast fission reactor fuelled by high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) recycled from the legacy Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II), which operated at Idaho National Laboratory for over 30 years. The fuel fabrication facility — the Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility (A3F) at INL — has received DOE approval of its Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis and is in active assembly, representing a significant regulatory milestone. The complete reactor system fits into a compact, transportable configuration capable of operating independently from the commercial grid and in temperatures as low as -50°F (-45°C), making it well suited for Arctic conditions. HALEU fuel can operate up to 15 years without refuelling, significantly reducing the logistical burden of diesel supply chains that currently serve remote military installations.
Commercialization & Traction
The Notice of Intent to Award is the most advanced commercial milestone yet reached for Oklo's Aurora platform, following an initial notice in August 2023 that was subsequently rescinded. The DOE's Reactor Pilot Program has selected the Aurora-INL project, and the DOME test bed at Idaho National Laboratory is being accelerated to be ready in Spring 2026 for validation activities. A series of four Executive Orders signed by President Trump in May 2025 relating to nuclear energy — including EO 14299, which requires operational microreactors at domestic military bases by September 30, 2028 — provide additional regulatory and policy tailwinds for the project. The DAF's broader Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations programme has eight vendors selected as of June 2025.
Scalability & Strategic Context
Eielson AFB is designed to be the first U.S. Department of Defense installation to host on-site advanced nuclear energy technology, establishing the operational, regulatory, and logistical template for subsequent military microreactor deployments. Project Pele (BWXT's transportable gas-cooled reactor) and the Oklo Eielson project represent parallel DoD pathways to military nuclear power — gas-cooled and fast fission respectively — with each accumulating distinct operational data. Oklo's Ohio campus agreement with Meta, announced in January 2026, demonstrates the company's commercial ambitions beyond defence, and the Eielson licence and operating history would provide the first real-world proof of Aurora performance at scale for both government and commercial customers.