Oklo selects Kiewit for construction of first Aurora Powerhouse

Oklo’s timeline for the project remains the same as previously announced: the company expects preconstruction activities to launch this year and commercial operations to begin in late 2027 or early 2028.

Why Kiewit: In a press release, Oklo explained that Kiewit rose above other companies in the competitive selection process because of its “extensive experience in delivering large-scale industrial and infrastructure projects.” This will be a valuable asset for Oklo to leverage, especially considering that “a significant portion of the Aurora powerhouse’s construction scope is nonnuclear.”

This announcement marks a second big win for Kiewit this summer in the nuclear space. The company was selected in May by Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization to help design a deep geological repository for spent fuel in Ontario.

Quotable: “This is a critical step in helping us build efficiently and deliver clean energy on a meaningful timeline,” said Oklo cofounder and CEO Jacob DeWitte. “Advanced reactors will largely be able to be constructed differently than legacy plants, and a key pathway to realizing the economic benefits associated with that is to modernize how we design, procure, and build these plants.”

Background: This first commercial Aurora powerhouse, often referred to as the Aurora-INL, is a major step in Oklo’s plan to scale up the broader deployment of its reactor technology. The company currently has agreements with commercial and U.S. government partners to supply more than 14 GW of power to various projects.

Oklo’s plans for commercialization have expanded beyond the domestic market. In June, the company announced a new partnership with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to investigate the possibility of the reactor’s global deployment.

The Aurora powerhouse is a liquid metal–cooled, metal-fueled fast reactor with a maximum power level of 75 MWe. According to Oklo, the design is able to run 10 years without refueling. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently engaged in preapplication activities for the reactor.