4 ms·

Okla really seems like a meme stock. Their original design was rejected by the NRC, so they are very far from ever breaking ground. I don’t understand why thei

Okla really seems like a meme stock. Their original design was rejected by the NRC, so they are very far from ever breaking ground. I don’t understand why their valuation is so high. Why not just take all this money and build an existing, approved design?

fakedang 8mo ago
The expectation is that their close-to-Trump investors will push for the dismantling of the NRC, which is something Republicans wholly support, which will of course make their rejection moot.
- boringg 8mo ago
  Maybe but the underlying tech still needs to perform which, as i understand it from public docs, has not. No amount of clear runway will make up for an airplane not being able to take flight.
  - deleted 8mo ago
    [deleted]
- SilverElfin 8mo ago
  The NRC is now mostly composed of Trump appointees. They’ve been quietly doing that. His most recent appointee was just made chair. Expect permits for friends of the Trump family and heavy regulation for competitors. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environment/4412927/trump-new-chair-nuclear-safety-agency-ho-nieh-pivotal-period-change/ https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environ...
- pseudalopex 8mo ago
  DOGE told regulator to ‘rubber stamp’ nuclear[1] [1] https://www.eenews.net/articles/doge-told-regulator-to-rubber-stamp-nuclear/ https://www.eenews.net/articles/doge-told-regulator-to-rubbe...
  - riffraff 8mo ago
    FYI (this was news to me, so it may be to other people), DOGE no longer exists. So in the end they did manage to cut some waste, themselves! https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doge-doesnt-exist-with-eight-months-left-its-charter-2025-11-23/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doge-doesnt-exist-with-eigh...
- rayiner 8mo ago
  Getting things I voted for that I didn’t even know about. https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-replaces-nrc-chair-as-he-remakes-agency/ https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-replaces-nrc-chair-as-... Anyone could’ve picked up the mantle of fixing the NRC, which is an obviously broken agency. France transitioned the majority of its grid to nuclear back in the 80s. Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, anyone could have picked up this low hanging fruit and fixed the problem. Nobody even tried.
epistasis 8mo ago
Basically it sounds like what happens in failed countries: > “It’s not like the NRC asks for an extraordinary amount of information,” said a former nuclear official who was involved in reviewing Oklo’s failed application and spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their work in the industry. “The NRC asks three questions: What is the worst that can happen, what are the systems, structures and components in your reactor that prevents that from happening, and how do you know that?” >“Oklo would only answer them at a very high level,” the person said. “They wanted to say nothing bad can happen to our reactor.” >DeWitte said Oklo had planned a robust public rebuttal but claims that at the time, NRC officials “threatened us, in a retributional way, not to issue a response letter to correct the record.” >“Well, they’re gone now,” he added. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/26/nuclear-energy-billionaires-trump-connections/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/26/nuclear-e...
- ai_critic 8mo ago
  > “It’s not like the NRC asks for an extraordinary amount of information,” said a former nuclear official who was involved in reviewing Oklo’s failed application and spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their work in the industry. “The NRC asks three questions: What is the worst that can happen, what are the systems, structures and components in your reactor that prevents that from happening, and how do you know that?” This...does not square with the successful hamstringing of the nuclear energy industry by regulation over the past several decades.
  - epistasis 8mo ago
    Are you saying that the NRC asks for more than that? That there was a different process in the past? The big complaint I've heard about the NRC are changes required mid-construction, which happened last in the 1980s. In the 2000s the NRC adopted a new licensing scheme at industry urging. What "hamstringing" are you talking about? Okla would sound a lot more reliable here if they would have fought back with lawsuits with their accusations, or if the would release the communication now that there's no chance of this supposed retribution. As it is Okla makes all the talk of "hamstringing" seem like people not doing their jobs and trying to blame others.
boringg 8mo ago
I will be very surprised if Oklo makes it. Insiders have been selling a fair bit over the last couple years because my speculative guess is they know that they cant possible meet the expectations in the market for their product. They essentially got a ton of traction because Altman was on the board (but since left) but most (not all) tech people don’t understand deep energy problems.

fakedang 8mo ago

The expectation is that their close-to-Trump investors will push for the dismantling of the NRC, which is something Republicans wholly support, which will of course make their rejection moot.

boringg 8mo ago
Maybe but the underlying tech still needs to perform which, as i understand it from public docs, has not. No amount of clear runway will make up for an airplane not being able to take flight.
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
SilverElfin 8mo ago
The NRC is now mostly composed of Trump appointees. They’ve been quietly doing that. His most recent appointee was just made chair. Expect permits for friends of the Trump family and heavy regulation for competitors. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environment/4412927/trump-new-chair-nuclear-safety-agency-ho-nieh-pivotal-period-change/ https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environ...
pseudalopex 8mo ago
DOGE told regulator to ‘rubber stamp’ nuclear[1] [1] https://www.eenews.net/articles/doge-told-regulator-to-rubber-stamp-nuclear/ https://www.eenews.net/articles/doge-told-regulator-to-rubbe...
- riffraff 8mo ago
  FYI (this was news to me, so it may be to other people), DOGE no longer exists. So in the end they did manage to cut some waste, themselves! https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doge-doesnt-exist-with-eight-months-left-its-charter-2025-11-23/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doge-doesnt-exist-with-eigh...
rayiner 8mo ago
Getting things I voted for that I didn’t even know about. https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-replaces-nrc-chair-as-he-remakes-agency/ https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-replaces-nrc-chair-as-... Anyone could’ve picked up the mantle of fixing the NRC, which is an obviously broken agency. France transitioned the majority of its grid to nuclear back in the 80s. Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, anyone could have picked up this low hanging fruit and fixed the problem. Nobody even tried.

epistasis 8mo ago

Basically it sounds like what happens in failed countries: > “It’s not like the NRC asks for an extraordinary amount of information,” said a former nuclear official who was involved in reviewing Oklo’s failed application and spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their work in the industry. “The NRC asks three questions: What is the worst that can happen, what are the systems, structures and components in your reactor that prevents that from happening, and how do you know that?” >“Oklo would only answer them at a very high level,” the person said. “They wanted to say nothing bad can happen to our reactor.” >DeWitte said Oklo had planned a robust public rebuttal but claims that at the time, NRC officials “threatened us, in a retributional way, not to issue a response letter to correct the record.” >“Well, they’re gone now,” he added. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/26/nuclear-energy-billionaires-trump-connections/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/26/nuclear-e...

ai_critic 8mo ago
> “It’s not like the NRC asks for an extraordinary amount of information,” said a former nuclear official who was involved in reviewing Oklo’s failed application and spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their work in the industry. “The NRC asks three questions: What is the worst that can happen, what are the systems, structures and components in your reactor that prevents that from happening, and how do you know that?” This...does not square with the successful hamstringing of the nuclear energy industry by regulation over the past several decades.
- epistasis 8mo ago
  Are you saying that the NRC asks for more than that? That there was a different process in the past? The big complaint I've heard about the NRC are changes required mid-construction, which happened last in the 1980s. In the 2000s the NRC adopted a new licensing scheme at industry urging. What "hamstringing" are you talking about? Okla would sound a lot more reliable here if they would have fought back with lawsuits with their accusations, or if the would release the communication now that there's no chance of this supposed retribution. As it is Okla makes all the talk of "hamstringing" seem like people not doing their jobs and trying to blame others.

boringg 8mo ago

I will be very surprised if Oklo makes it. Insiders have been selling a fair bit over the last couple years because my speculative guess is they know that they cant possible meet the expectations in the market for their product. They essentially got a ton of traction because Altman was on the board (but since left) but most (not all) tech people don’t understand deep energy problems.