Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO), a developer of an advanced micro reactor and nuclear fuel recycling company, will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the new ticker symbol “OKLO,” effective at market open 05/10/24. This milestone follows the completion of its business combination with AltC Acquisition Corp. on 05/09/24.
Oklo has received $306 million in gross proceeds from the transaction before taking into account expenses associated with the transaction, which is expected to be used to execute Oklo’s business plan and fund the initial deployment of the Company’s Aurora powerhouse.
Oklo announced its newly appointed board of directors comprised of industry leaders with Sam Altman serving as chairman of the board.
Sam Altman, Chairman of Oklo since 2015 and former Chief Executive Officer of AltC, said, “There are huge growth opportunities ahead for the firm.”
In its press statement OKLO said, “Oklo’s owner-operator model aligns with customer preferences and has generated interest across established and growing markets, including artificial intelligence, data center, energy, defense, and industrials. The company will focus on selling power directly to customers under long-term contracts, which aims to provide consistent, recurring revenue and cash flow streams.”
Oklo’s Stock Falls on First Day of Trading
Update 05/11/24: The first day of public trading on the NYSE for Oklo’s stock did not go well. Shares opened at 10 AM at $16.45 and closed at 4 PM at $8.09. Volume was 25 million shares. Bloomberg reported that trading was halted for volatility at least three times in the first hour. Essentially, market capitalization was cut in half. The stock’s drop cut the company’s valuation to roughly $718 million.
A lack of confidence in the stock may be a reflection of a more general skepticism of SPAC type deals. According to Bloomberg, SPACs have mostly fallen out of favor after a boom in 2020 and 2021 went bust, with dozens of companies filing for bankruptcy as others were acquired at fire-sale prices. More than one-fifth of the nearly 500 SPAC deals that have closed since 2019 are trading below $1 each, a greater than 90% plunge.
Current Deals for Oklo
Oil & Gas – Oklo said in its media statement that key agreements includes a partnerships with Diamondback Energy, Inc., one of the nation’s largest independent shale-oil producers. The firms signed a non-binding letter of intent for a 20 year power purchase agreement that would have Oklo provide 50 MW of electrical power. Oklo has indicated on its website that its revised design is scalable from 15 to 50 MW per installation.
Centrus HALEU Nuclear Fuel & Power – Another key partnership is with Centrus Energy Corp. The scope of the wide ranging agreement includes;
- Oklo would purchase HALEU from the production facility Centrus is planning to build in Piketon, OH.
- Centrus would purchase electricity from the Aurora powerhouses that Oklo is planning to build in Piketon. These two power plants are designed to power the HALEU production facility.
- Centrus would manufacture components for Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse at Centrus’ advanced manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, TN,, as well as manufacturing capacity at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, OH, where HALEU production will take place.
- Centrus and Oklo would work together to establish and license the capabilities necessary to support deconversion of HALEU from gaseous uranium hexafluoride(UF6) to uranium metal and to fabricate fuel assemblies for Oklo’s Aurora powerhouses.
AI Data Centers – The data center trade news site Data Center Dynamics reports that Oklo, has signed a $25M deal to provide up to 500 MW of nuclear power to an data center. The data center developer Equinix made a $25 million prepayment as part of the power purchase agreement.
The deal was revealed in an S4 filing on April 2, 2024, with the SEC by AltC Acquisition Corp ahead of is SPAC merger announced in July 2023. A previous news media report that Equinix would take an equity position in Oklo turned out to be based on an error in the S4 filing with the SEC. There is no equity deal at this time.
Status of Engagement with the NRC
The firm does not yet have an NRC license for its advanced reactor design. Oklo is currently making a second effort to complete the NRC safety design review process. The agency denied the first application in January 2022 saying the firm’s submission contained significant information gaps and in its classification of safety systems and components.
Oklo has set its sights on a modification of its microreactor design which includes upgrading the heat pipes to take into account higher power ratings. The heat pipes are a significant design element. In effect, the firm is currently coming forward in its engagement with the NRC with a revised approach to meeting licensing requirements and with a revision to the reactor design itself. The firm is targeting a scalable design in a range of power outputs of from 15-to-50 MWe.
The Oklo regulatory engagement plan (ML23272A246) with the NRC was updated in October 2023. Since then the firm has continued to submit white papers and related pre-licensing documentation.
The company at one time predicted it would have its first unit in operation by 2025. In an interview with Bloomberg wire service on 5/10/24, CEO Jacob DeWitte offered a revised timeline.
“We’ve got regulatory work ahead of us for the next couple of years before we really transition into the heavier capital outlays for some of equipment that we’ll be investing in as part of the plant and building out the plant,” DeWitte said.
Related developments for Other SMRs
- X-Energy
In December 2022 X-Energy announced plans to go public with a SPAC deal with Ares Acquisition. In October 2023 X-Energy withdrew from a $2 billion SPAC deal with Ares Acquisition citing market conditions. These “market conditions” included a run on NuScale’s stock by short seller investors and the termination of the NuScale UAMPS project. Two weeks after the announcement cancelling the SPAC deal X-Energy laid off about 100 of its employees.
In December 2023 X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC announced that it has completed its Series C financing round with an additional $80 million from Ares Management Corporation and X-energy Founder, Kam Ghaffarian.
- NuScale
In December 2021 NuScale announced plans to go public with a SPAC deal expected to draw $500M from investors. The firm was hit hard in October 2023 by a short seller who issued a report to investors critical of the firm’s performance. NuScale issued a media statement disputing the information in the short seller’s report calling it “riddled with speculative statements with no basis in fact.”
In November 2023 NuScale and UAMPS jointly agreed to terminate their effort to build six 77 MW SMRs (462MW) at a site on the Idaho National Laboratory. Rising costs for concrete, steel, and other major elements of the construction project were the primary reason for the decision.
In January 2024 NuScale laid off 40% of its staff following the termination of the UAMPS deal for the FOAK project in Idaho.
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