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Oklo's Groves Reactor Reaches First Criticality 11 Months After Groundbreaking — the Fastest Greenfield-to-Criticality for a Privately Funded Reactor
The Department of Energy confirmed that Oklo's Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Texas achieved first criticality on August 5, 2026 — 11 months after groundbreaking and 229 days of substantial construction, which management calls the fastest greenfield-to-criticality transition for a full-scale privately funded and privately sited reactor in history. It is the first reactor under the program to go critical on private land. Oklo's Q2 slides pair the milestone with $3B in liquidity and a ~50% jump in construction spend; Aurora-INL remains targeted for commercial operations in 2028. Sam Altman, Oklo's chairman, publicly congratulated the team.
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