Aalo-1
Aalo-1 is a sodium-cooled reactor design rated at 10 MWe. The developer is engaging a regulator but has not submitted an application. It requires HALEU fuel.
A DOE-authorised experimental reactor on a national laboratory site is not an NRC-licensed commercial plant, and the two are frequently conflated. To sell power commercially Aalo would need to enter NRC licensing, which it has not. The twelve Aalo-1 units appearing in fleet datasets are announcements, not permits.
Aalo appears in the fleet data with a dozen announced units, which is a good illustration of why this tracker separates announcements from regulatory position.
| Tier | Pre-application |
|---|---|
| Regulator | US Department of Energy authorisation pathway |
| Application type | DOE authorisation, not NRC licensing |
| Docket / reference | DOE reactor pilot programme; Aalo-X at Idaho National Laboratory |
| Application date | — |
| Review phase | DOE authorisation pathway rather than NRC licensing |
| Decision expected | not stated |
| Coolant | Sodium |
|---|---|
| Reactor family | not classified |
| Electrical output | 10MWe |
| Thermal output | not disclosed |
| Fuel | Uranium hydride / metallic |
| Enrichment | HALEU |
| First site | Idaho National Laboratory |
| Offtakers | none announced |
This design needs HALEU — uranium enriched above 5% and below 20%. That is not the fuel any commercial Western power reactor uses today, and it is the single most common reason an advanced reactor timeline slips. Every Western facility that can make it or turn it into fuel:
| Facility | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|
| TRISO-X Fuel Facility (TX-1), Oak Ridge | not disclosed | construction |
| American Centrifuge Plant, Piketon | 900kg HALEU/yr | operating |
| Nuclear Fuel Services, Erwin | not disclosed | operating |
| Savannah River Site HEU downblending | 3,100kg HALEU total | operating |
| BWXT TRISO facility, Gillette | not disclosed | planned |
| Urenco Capenhurst HALEU line | not disclosed | planned |
Units announced with this design
12 units in the Global Nuclear Power Tracker carry the model name "Aalo-1" — 12announced. Announcement is not permission; compare this against the regulatory position above.
| Unit | Country | Status | Gross MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aalo Atomics Idaho nuclear power plant 1 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Idaho nuclear power plant 2 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Idaho nuclear power plant 3 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Idaho nuclear power plant 4 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Idaho nuclear power plant 5 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Idaho nuclear power plant 6 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Idaho nuclear power plant 7 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Texas A&M nuclear power plant 1 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Texas A&M nuclear power plant 2 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Texas A&M nuclear power plant 3 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Texas A&M nuclear power plant 4 | United States | announced | 10 |
| Aalo Atomics Texas A&M nuclear power plant 5 | United States | announced | 10 |
Sources
- US Department of Energy reactor pilot programme · retrieved 2026-09-06
- Announced units: Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release — CC BY 4.0