In a blow to advanced nuclear company Oklo, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week denied the company’s proposed modular reactor project, saying that it failed to properly address several key topics during the application process.
Oklo’s application for its Aurora fast reactor “continues to contain significant information gaps in its description of Aurora’s potential accidents as well as its classification of safety systems and components,” NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) director Andrea Veil said in a press release Thursday. “These gaps prevent further review activities.”
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Oklo initially submitted its application for the Aurora reactor in March 2020, NRC said. The proposed reactor would have been built at Idaho National Laboratory. After NRC accepted the application for review, the company submitted two sets of topical reports on the Aurora design in July and October 2021, the agency said.
In a Jan. 6 letter to Oklo, NRC said that topical reports submitted to the agency by Oklo “are not sufficiently complete to support efficient, detailed technical reviews by the NRC staff.”
“We are eager to continue moving forward on not just this project with the NRC, but also other projects we are already engaged on with the NRC, including other budgeted application submittals,” Oklo told RadWaste Monitor in an emailed statement Thursday evening. “Our combined license application was the first ever accepted for an advanced plant, so there are many new things for all to learn from and work through to support a successful review, and it provides a foundation from which we can supply additional information and continue work with the NRC.”
Although its application is denied, NRC would re-engage with Oklo on the Aurora project if it submits a new application that “provides the information we need for a thorough and timely review,” Veil said Thursday.
The company has 30 days to request a hearing on NRC’s decision, the agency said.
