nuclear-news

U.S. Department of Energy signs additional OTAs to accelerate nuclear reactor pilot projects

Energies Media, by Warren, January 24, 2026

The U.S. is aiming to lead the surge in new nuclear energy developments across the international market

Since taking office for his second term, Donald Trump has shaken the U.S. energy market to its core. Trump signed several executive orders aimed at increasing the oil and gas production in the U.S., and has actively been approving the nuclear buildout as part of the government’s efforts to increase nuclear energy output in the United States.

The U.S. DOE has now finalized two new Other Transaction Agreements with Terrestrial Energy and Oklo. The new OTAs form part of the U.S. Reactor Pilot Program, which has outlined a target of fast-tracking the deployment of the reactors by July 4 of this year.

The context behind the new nuclear development in the U.S.

In August of 2025, the U.S. DOE formally selected ten companies as part of the Reactor Pilot Program, a new path for nuclear energy developers to leverage the accelerated DOE approval instead of the standard Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing process. Initially, the U.S. was targeting to get up to three reactors online within a year, but that target was amended by Energy Secretary Chris Wright at the 2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo.

Other notable selections by the Department as part of the Reactor Pilot Program include:

• Aalo Atomics
• Deep Fission
• Last Energy
• Natura Resources
• Standard Nuclear

Oklo and Terrestrial Energy will boost the U.S. nuclear energy output capacity

Oklo is as unique as it gets within the framework of the Reactor Pilot Program, as it has three distinct nuclear energy projects in the United States, namely the Aurora Powerhouse development, the Pluto reactor, and a third reactor being developed by the company’s subsidiary, Atomic Alchemy…….

Terrestrial Energy, on the other hand, follows a more conventional OTA process. The company’s Project Tetra has been slowly developing over the past few months and has now been added to the Reactor Pilot Program by the U.S. authority………………………. https://energiesmedia.com/us-department-of-energy-signs-additional-otas/

January 28, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA