The company said it is advancing its plans for Groves-2 Forge as part of the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative of the US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory-based National Reactor Innovation Center, which itself builds on the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program by offering a streamlined pathway for reactor and fuel cycle developments. Oklo was one of twelve companies announced by the National Reactor Innovation Center in August to take part in the initiative.
Groves-2 Forge will build on the demonstration experience from Oklo’s Groves Isotope Test Reactor while including capabilities to produce, process, and purify critical isotopes, the company said.
The Groves low-power test reactor, designed to demonstrate reactor design, build, and operations, and to establish operating experience needed to support future isotope production facilities, achieved first criticality in August. Located near Lockhart in Caldwell County, Texas, it was one of 11 advanced reactor projects selected by the Department of Energy in August 2025 for its Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, which established a new pathway for advanced reactor demonstration under a Department of Energy, rather than US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, authorisation process.
Groves-2 Forge is planned to integrate historical fragmented parts of the isotope value chain, specifically reactor irradiation with hot-cell processing capabilities, including isotope separation, product recovery, packaging, and transportation, Oklo said. It will initially focus on producing lutetium-177, used in targeted cancer treatments. The company plans to transition Groves-2 Forge from pilot operations to commercial-scale isotope production, subject to obtaining the appropriate commercial operation licences from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Groves isotope test reactor was brought to criticality in less than a year. “Groves showed how quickly a new reactor could be built and brought to criticality through close collaboration between the private sector and DOE,” said Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte. “Groves-2 Forge will build directly on that foundation by adding the capabilities needed to irradiate target materials and process and prepare valuable isotopes.”
Chimi Zacot, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors at the Department of Energy, said Oklo’s experience with the Groves Isotope Test Reactor “demonstrates how private developers can advance nuclear projects forward safely and efficiently under DOE authorisation. Through the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, we look forward to supporting Oklo as it builds on that progress with Groves-2 and advances integrated isotope production and processing capabilities”.
