Nuclear fission startup Oklo Inc, backed by OpenAI boss Sam Altman, will publicly list in New York after it agreed to merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) AltC Acquisition Corp (NYSE:ALCC).
The deal values Oklo at US$850mln currently and is expected to deliver up to US$500mln in gross proceeds from the cash held by AltC.
Billionaire Altman is both chairman of Oklo and a co-founder of AltC, as well as being CEO of ChatGPT creator OpenAI and former president of startup accelerator Y-Combinator.
He recruited Oklo to Y-Combinator in 2014 and joined the company the following year.
Oklo says its mission is to design and deploy its "next-generation" liquid metal fast reactor technology, housed in what it calls an Aurora powerhouse, with each designed to produce up to 15 megawatts of electricity (MWe) using both recycled nuclear fuel and fresh fuel.
It plans to do this via an owner-operator model, where it plans to sell nuclear power directly to customers under long-term contracts, providing recurring revenue.
Altman said: “I am thrilled to announce this partnership that provides the opportunity for AltC’s shareholders to become investors in Oklo and fund the first deployment of the Aurora powerhouse.
“I think the two most important inputs to a great future are abundant intelligence and abundant energy. I have long been interested in the potential that nuclear energy offers to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy at great scale.”
He added that the Sunnyvale, California-based firm is “underpinned by demonstrated technology and has a design approach that is expected to reduce plant complexity, costs, and construction time, allowing for streamlined deployment".
A first site and fuel have both been secured for its first plant, which it expects to be online in 2026 or 2027.
The Aurora plants use metal fuel to produce electricity and heat, with pipes that carry the heat to a heat exchanger, and a power conversion cycle that converts the heat into electricity.
Co-founders Caroline Cochran and Jacob DeWitte say the Aurora offers a number of unique capabilities, including the ability to produce power for "decades without needing to refuel", by using a fission spectrum that can recycle fuel and ultimately "convert nuclear waste to clean energy".