Shares of Oklo (OKLO -1.75%) are jumping on Thursday, up 11.3% as of 1:14 p.m. ET. The spike comes as the S&P 500 lost 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2%.
The advanced nuclear reactor developer's stock is continuing to gain after yesterday morning's announcement that Oklo has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a pilot program.
The DOE picks Oklo again
The company, along with three others, will join the DOE's Advanced Nuclear Fuel Line Pilot Project, which Oklo says is similar to the Reactor Pilot Program, another DOE initiative it has already been selected for. The new program will see the company "build and operate three fuel-fabrication facilities to support the deployment of advanced reactors." Oklo's inclusion in the new program is yet another sign that its technology is market-leading.
Image source: Getty Images.
The opportunity for Oklo is huge. Nuclear energy is having a renaissance of sorts, and with its compact fast reactor design, the company could be particularly well positioned to benefit from streamlined licensing.
However, it has yet to generate meaningful revenue and trades on promise rather than performance; its valuation makes me pause. The technology for modular nuclear reactors still needs to be perfected, and there's no guarantee that successive administrations will be as pro-nuclear as the current one. But if you have a higher risk tolerance, Oklo is a solid pick.
