DOE officials celebrate reactor milestones and announce $17.5 billion loan commitment at Idaho National Laboratory

Department of Energy officials and Idaho leaders onstage at Idaho National Laboratory framed recent small-modular and microreactor milestones as the start of a larger U.S. nuclear revival and announced major federal support for new reactors.

"We call this a celebration of the golden era of nuclear power," John Wagner, director of Idaho National Laboratory, said, thanking laboratory staff and partners for rapid progress. Wagner highlighted that multiple companies have moved reactors or components into place and said the effort is "not one milestone. It's a cascade."

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said DOE authorized at least one project and pledged financing to scale larger reactors. "I signed the authorization for Aloe Atomics," Wright said, and noted that DOE had approved a "large 17 and a half billion dollar loan commitment to build 10 large scale 1.1 gigawatt reactors." Wright said the department is also working to restore domestic enrichment capacity and stand up fuel programs to supply the new fleet.

Wright and other speakers cited recent criticality events as evidence the timeline can move quickly: officials said Antares went critical on June 18 and that Valor Atomics achieved criticality in Utah two weeks earlier. "We will have another one," Wright said, describing the sequence of start-ups and saying the United States is poised to expand nuclear capacity.

Officials emphasized the role of federal policy and programs in accelerating the work. Wagner credited recent executive actions and DOE programs with clearing regulatory obstacles and noted the lab and its contractors finished significant construction "a full year ahead of schedule." Undersecretary Kyle Hossbite called the moment a "renaissance," tying nuclear capability to national security, economic opportunity and technological leadership.

Idaho Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke said the state would be a partner in the effort, noting the historical role Idaho labs have played in U.S. nuclear development and arguing the region has the land and workforce to host future projects.

Event remarks named a number of developer and technology firms active on or near the site, including Radiant, Oklo and Standard Nuclear, and cited multiple small-reactor developers engaged in DOE programs. Officials said numerous follow-on projects are planned and reiterated a long-term target of 400 gigawatts of U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050.

The announcements made at the event were declarations of federal support and project authorizations; no local legislative or regulatory votes were recorded at the event. Officials said some programs (loan approvals, enrichment and fuel-line work) will require further implementation steps and private-sector activity before electricity sales or commercial operations begin.

The event ended after a series of speeches that officials said marked the start of a new phase of deployment and follow-up work by DOE and industry partners.