Oklo Inc. announced on August 6 that its Groves Isotope Test Reactor located in Lockhart, Texas, achieved first criticality in under 11 months from groundbreaking. The company characterized the accomplishment as the first project under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program to reach criticality on private land from a greenfield site, and potentially the fastest privately funded and privately sited reactor construction in history.
The reactor was built entirely by Oklo’s team, which managed civil excavation and construction while manufacturing or procuring all components internally, including fuel. The Groves facility is designed to support the company’s isotope business, which serves healthcare, industrial, research, space, and national security applications. Management indicated that commercial revenue from isotope operations is expected to begin during the first half of 2027 through an Idaho radiochemistry laboratory.
Oklo reported financial results for the recent quarter showing a net loss of $81.6 million and an operating loss of $124.2 million. The company announced revised guidance for operating cash flow and capital expenditure, raising operating cash flow expectations to $120 million to $150 million and capital expenditure guidance to $400 million to $500 million. The company maintains $3 billion in cash and marketable securities following a $1.9 billion fundraising effort during 2026 through at-the-market offerings.
The company’s broader development pipeline continues advancing, with excavation nearly complete at the Aurora-INL site and a memorandum of understanding with Kiewit progressing for the 1.2-gigawatt Ohio Power Campus project intended to supply Meta. Stock price increased more than 10% on August 7 following the announcement. However, the Groves reactor functions as a test facility for isotope production rather than commercial power generation, with the Aurora-INL powerhouse validation project not targeted for startup until 2028 and the first phase of the Aurora-Ohio installation not expected until early 2030.
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