Aalo Atomics Becomes First U.S. Advanced Reactor Company with Enriched Uranium Delivery Contract, Advancing Toward 2026 Startup
Aalo Atomics, a pioneering company developing fully modular nuclear plants designed to power the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence (AI) data center industry, has achieved a historic milestone. In July 2025, the company signed a landmark agreement that positions it as the first U.S.-based advanced nuclear reactor firm to secure a contract for the commercial delivery of enriched uranium. This critical fuel supply deal with Urenco marks a major step toward Aalo’s goal of achieving reactor startup and criticality in 2026.
Under the terms of the contract, Urenco will deliver the enriched uranium no later than the first quarter of 2026. This fuel will support the startup of Aalo-X, the company’s flagship modular experimental reactor. If all goes as planned, Aalo-X could become the first advanced nuclear reactor built and operational in the United States in more than a generation—a development with wide-ranging implications for the nation’s energy landscape and the future of high-demand industries such as AI-driven computing.
Fueling the Future of Data Centers
Aalo Atomics is targeting one of the fastest-growing sources of energy demand: large-scale data centers, particularly those built to power artificial intelligence applications. AI workloads require enormous amounts of energy, and traditional grid-based power alone often cannot keep pace with such demand growth. Aalo’s solution is to build “Aalo Pods”—fully modular nuclear power plants designed for fast deployment, scalability, and integration directly into the infrastructure supporting data centers.
“The enriched uranium being supplied to Aalo by Urenco is an exciting catalyst on our path to criticality in 2026,” explained Yasir Arafat, Chief Technology Officer of Aalo Atomics. “Not only is the uranium available immediately, but it is also completely scalable, providing us with the ability to deploy Aalo Pods for data centers again and again at gigawatt scale, keeping pace with demand.”
Arafat emphasized that scalability is a defining feature of Aalo’s strategy. With modularity at its core, the company envisions the rapid replication of small, self-contained nuclear plants that can be constructed and deployed in parallel, rather than relying on the traditional model of single, massive reactor projects that often take decades to complete.
Urenco’s Role in Supplying Critical Fuel
The enriched uranium that will power Aalo-X is being provided by Urenco, a global leader in nuclear fuel services. As of the end of 2024, Urenco maintained a global production capacity of 17,300 tSW/a (tonnes of separative work units per annum). For Aalo, Urenco will supply 5% enrichment low-enriched uranium (LEU), which will then be fabricated into uranium dioxide (UO₂). This form represents the final fuel configuration for use in the Aalo-X reactor.
Urenco leaders highlighted both the technological potential and the practical innovation behind Aalo’s approach. “We have been impressed with Aalo’s unique approach of building fully modular nuclear plants, its thoughtfulness in how to execute its vision and its commitment to speed to market,” said Alison Poortman, Vice President of Advanced Fuels, Commercial, North America at Urenco. “We look forward to helping the company reach criticality next year and being part of the Aalo mission for many years to come.”
This collaboration underscores the importance of partnerships between advanced nuclear startups and established players in the nuclear fuel cycle. Without a reliable supply of enriched uranium, even the most promising advanced reactor designs cannot reach operation. For Aalo, Urenco’s involvement ensures that a key piece of the puzzle is already in place as it prepares for its first reactor startup.
Progress on Multiple Fronts
In addition to securing the enriched uranium contract, Aalo Atomics has advanced other crucial aspects of the Aalo-X project in recent months. The company has initiated its Conceptual Design Review (CDR), a major step in validating the technical and engineering framework of the project. This process has brought together more than 40 independent experts, providing rigorous oversight and feedback to strengthen the reactor’s design.
Furthermore, Aalo has secured official site allocation from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office (DOE-ID). The DOE site will serve as the location for Aalo-X, ensuring access to the infrastructure, regulatory expertise, and historical legacy of nuclear innovation that Idaho National Laboratory and related facilities provide.
The company has also received an Environmental Assessment Determination from the DOE, a significant regulatory milestone. This determination expedites the environmental review process by confirming that the project does not pose major environmental risks, thereby allowing development to move forward more quickly.
A Historic Milestone for U.S. Nuclear Innovation
If successful, Aalo-X will represent more than just a technological achievement for Aalo Atomics. It will also mark a turning point in the history of U.S. nuclear energy. No advanced reactor has been built and brought to criticality in the country in decades, and much of the domestic nuclear fleet is based on older, large-scale designs that are expensive and slow to build.
Aalo’s modular approach represents a new paradigm, one that could bring nuclear energy into closer alignment with the needs of modern industries. By providing flexible, scalable, carbon-free power solutions, Aalo aims to position nuclear as an enabler of emerging technologies like AI, cloud computing, and other data-intensive sectors that demand both massive amounts of energy and reliability.
