By Mackenzie Tatananni

Oklo may have solved the nuclear fuel problem.

The start-up said Thursday that it had signed a letter of intent with Centrus Energy for a multi-year supply of domestic high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Beginning in 2029, the fuel will power up to five of Oklo's Aurora nuclear powerhouses.

Oklo shares rose 2.7% in premarket trading. Centrus Energy, meanwhile, jumped 6.8%.

A persistent sticking point not just for Oklo, but for all nuclear developers, is the limited supply of fuel for new reactors. Oklo has actually proposed the use of surplus plutonium as a so-called bridge fuel to power reactors while domestic supply chains for traditional fuels like HALEU are developed.

Commercial HALEU isn't broadly available, as only Russia and China have the means to produce it at scale. Since banning Russian uranium imports years ago, the U.S. has invested aggressively in domestic infrastructure in an attempt to bulk up the supply.

The first of Oklo's planned powerhouses at Idaho National Laboratory is expected to run on recovered fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II. That facility was decommissioned in 1994 after a shift in political priorities led Congress to pull its funding.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 18, 2026 07:42 ET (11:42 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.