Based on attendee reactions at yesterday’s final plenary session of the Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX 2026) in Dallas, Texas, the response is mixed as to whether the United States can fulfill its ambitious plans to quadruple the country’s nuclear generating capacity by 2050. When asked whether the nation would reach that goal, a number of hands in the room went up. But when asked the opposite, several hands also went up.

Moderator Jon Colby told attendees to think positively about the long term.

Nuclear start-ups Oklo and Flibe Energy both announced this week that they have been selected by the Department of Energy for advanced negotiations under the department’s Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program, which aims to make surplus U.S. plutonium available to the nuclear industry for advanced reactor fuels.

According to multiple reports, three other companies—Exodys Energy, Shine Technologies, and Standard Nuclear—have also been selected for advanced negotiations under the program, which is being led by the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.