Oklo and Meta's 1.2 GW Ohio Project: Aurora Reactors Targeted by 2034

Oklo plans a 1.2 GW campus of Aurora fast reactors in Pike County, Ohio, for Meta, and reports third-quarter results on Nov. 6, 2026. The NRC's Oct. 27 project page lists Oklo's Q4 2026 licensing project plan update, filed in pre-application with no review requested.

Oklo said when it announced the deal on Jan. 9 that the agreement provides a mechanism for Meta to prepay for power and fund early work. Neither company disclosed the amount, a price, a term or a megawatt purchase commitment. Meta has agreed to fund the start of a project; it has not disclosed a contract for delivered power. The first phase targets operation as early as 2030, and the full 1.2 GW is targeted by 2034. Both dates belong to Oklo, and the NRC lists no combined licence application for Ohio or any commercial Aurora site (page updated Oct. 27).

Aurora Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor and HALEU Fuel

Aurora is a sodium-cooled fast reactor that burns metal fuel, a lineage Oklo traces to the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II in Idaho. A fast reactor does not slow its neutrons with water or graphite, and Oklo says Aurora's metal fuel can run on high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), recycled fuel from used nuclear fuel and other qualified fuels. For Ohio, Oklo plans to use HALEU, enriched to between 5% and 20% U-235. Oklo and Centrus call access to domestically sourced HALEU one of the central constraints facing advanced nuclear. That makes fuel, not only the licence, a schedule item.

Oklo's releases do not give an output per powerhouse. The NRC's pre-application page describes the proposed Oklo reactors as having "a maximum power level of 75 MWe," and ANS Nuclear Newswire has noted that the figure is missing from the company's own statements. Oklo has not said how many powerhouses make up the 1.2 GW.

The first unit, Aurora-INL, is being built at Idaho National Laboratory under the Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program, where it broke ground in September 2025. DOE's Idaho Operations Office approved its preliminary documented safety analysis (PDSA) on June 11, 2026. ANS describes the PDSA as the third of four steps in DOE authorization; the fourth, the final documented safety analysis, is what allows operation, and Oklo had not reported progress on it. Its first fuel is to be made at Oklo's own fuel fabrication facility in Idaho from recovered EBR-II fuel.

What Meta, Centrus and Kiewit Agreed With Oklo

The Ohio project rests on three agreements of different strength. Meta's is a prepayment and funding mechanism; Oklo said it will use the money to secure fuel and advance Phase 1. Its head of global energy, Urvi Parekh, tied the 1.2 GW to Meta's operations in the region, including its AI supercluster in New Albany.

On June 18, Oklo and Centrus Energy signed a letter of intent for Centrus to supply HALEU from its Piketon plant in Pike County for up to five Aurora powerhouses over multiple years, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2029. The letter anticipates a definitive contract and could include prepayments from Oklo. On the same day, Oklo and Kiewit Nuclear Solutions signed a memorandum of understanding on engineering, procurement and construction planning for the initial planned Aurora powerhouse deployments in southern Ohio. None of the three states a contract value.

The site is 206 acres Oklo owns, formerly owned by the Department of Energy at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant; the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative, which is redeveloping the site, helped facilitate the purchase. Oklo said pre-construction and site characterization were slated to begin in 2026.

Oklo Aurora NRC Licensing Status and Timeline

At the NRC, the Aurora is still in pre-application under docket 99902095. The agency's project page, last updated on Oct. 27, lists the Licensing Project Plan Q4 2026 Update as a regulatory engagement plan with no review requested. Topical reports on operator licensing, staffing plan validation and nuclear quality assurance are under review, and the NRC has issued an audit report in pre-application (listed as a Pre-Phase 2 Combined License Application audit); no application is under review. No combined licence application for Ohio or any other commercial Aurora site appears on the page.

The order matters. A combined licence covers construction and operation, and its review comes after an application is submitted and docketed. For a 2030 first phase, that review, construction and a definitive fuel contract all sit between now and first power.

What the Ohio Campus Means for Meta and PJM

Ohio sits in PJM, which Oklo calls one of the nation's largest grid systems, and the company frames the campus as new supply that a large buyer pays to add to the grid. If the plan holds, Meta could get baseload nuclear supply in the same state as New Albany from a first phase Oklo targets as early as 2030. In Voltgrid's reading, until a power contract with volumes is disclosed, the campus is an option on supply, not supply.

The Centrus letter ties the plan to one local source of fuel. As Voltgrid reported on Oct. 30, Centrus has started building out Piketon, with its new capacity targeting 2029, the same year the Oklo deliveries are due to begin. A slip at Piketon would reach Pike County directly.

The structure resembles other hyperscaler-funded reactor projects at an early stage. Amazon is backing a 960 MW X-energy study at a former Indiana coal site, and Energy Northwest's Cascade project for Amazon has moved its target for the construction permit application to the first half of 2027. All three are paid development, not construction.

What to Watch at Oklo's Nov. 6 Results

On Nov. 6, Oklo releases third-quarter results before the market opens, with a call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The useful answers are a date for the final safety analysis and startup of Aurora-INL, a date for a combined licence application, site work in Pike County, and whether the Centrus letter has become a contract. The other dated milestones are Oklo's own targets: HALEU deliveries from 2029, a first phase as early as 2030 and 1.2 GW by 2034.