Trump administration selects five nuclear startups for plutonium reactor negotiations

The Department of Energy selected five nuclear startups Tuesday to enter negotiations to receive a portion of the government's plutonium stockpile for potential use in new reactors. The department previously identified 34 tons of the material for disposal. The selected companies are Oklo, Standard Nuclear, Shine Technologies, Flibe Energy and Exodys Energy. Around 100 tons of plutonium was produced during the Cold War for atomic bombs and is now stored in high-security facilities. The material has a half-life of 24,000 years. Energy Secretary Chris Wright previously served on Oklo's board but resigned and divested his shares when he joined the administration. Sam Altman served as Oklo's board chair after its merger with his acquisition company AltC and resigned the position last year. Oklo is developing a reactor that can run on traditional uranium fuel as well as plutonium. Exodys Energy is developing a reactor that can operate using some plutonium as part of mixed oxide fuel. Flibe Energy is working toward a reactor that would run on plutonium and other by-products of fission reactors. The United States had plans to produce mixed oxide fuel in South Carolina, but the project was canceled during the first Trump administration after it exceeded budgets and timelines. One of Oklo's partners, U.K.-based Newcleo, said it intends to build its own mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility nearby. Security concerns remain significant. Scott Roecker, a vice president at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, told the New York Times that countries have tried similar efforts before and concluded the plutonium is a liability that requires permanent disposal rather than reuse as fuel. The startups will next enter advanced negotiations with the government over security and transportation of the plutonium.