Aalo Atomics, DOE Sign Landmark OTA to Speed Aalo-X Deployment

On Monday, Aalo Atomics and the Department of Energy (DOE) fully executed an "Other Transactional Agreement" (OTA) enabling faster deployment of Aalo-X, our demonstration reactor.

Signing this OTA is a pivotal milestone which empowers Aalo to move "at the speed of business" while maintaining government oversight. The agreement entails faster execution, less bureaucracy, and a more streamlined approach to building Aalo-X.

Aalo is among the first, if not the very first, to sign an OTA under the Reactor Pilot Program, which launched earlier in 2025 to bridge the gap between demonstration and commercialization of advanced nuclear energy. The OTA provides a flexible framework for public-private collaboration as we move into the construction phase of our first-of-a-fleet reactor at Idaho National Lab. We continue to be laser focused on bringing Aalo-X critical by July 4, 2026, to meet the goal outlined in Executive Order 14301, "Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy." This week's finalized OTA will accelerate our efforts to hit this ambitious target. 

An "Other Transactional Agreement" is the same framework that NASA used to facilitate SpaceX's path to commercializing space exploration. OTAs are ideal vehicles for public-private innovation because they are not classified as procurement agreements, and thus are not subject to certain laws and regulations that could hamper the momentum of demonstration projects.

The OTA validates Aalo's no-nonsense approach to commercializing advanced nuclear technology. It indicates the government's willingness to share risk, offer timely regulatory authorizations, and act as a partner in the advancement of Aalo's extra-modular reactor (XMR) technology. Another implication of the OTA is that Aalo is now an official DOE contractor and is no longer required to route contracts through INL. Crucially, this simplifies project management and reduces regulatory burden.

The first step toward commercialization is demonstration—what we call "Goal 1." This is Aalo-X and dry criticality, the initial controlled fission reaction.

Aalo-X is a 10MWe reactor built in a factory with modules assembled on site. It is the precursor to Aalo-1, Aalo's first commercial reactor, which, when deployed in packs of five, forms the Aalo Pod—a 50MWe nuclear plant purpose-built for reliably powering data centers.

‍

We're deeply grateful to the internal teams and external stakeholders who contributed to making this OTA possible.