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Oklo and Siemens Energy Sign Agreement to Accelerate Power Conversion System for New SMR in Idaho

LCG, November 19, 2025--Oklo Inc. and Siemens Energy announced today that the parties have signed a binding contract for the design and delivery of the power conversion system for Oklo’s Aurora-INL (Idaho National Laboratory) nuclear small modular reactor (SMR). The agreement authorizes Siemens Energy to begin engineering and design work to expedite procurement of long-lead components and to initiate the manufacturing process for the power conversion system. Oklo’s expertise in advanced fission technology will be combined with Siemens Energy’s extensive industry experience with steam turbine and generator systems, with the ultimate goal of generating carbon-free, reliable electricity.

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NERC's New Winter Reliability Assessment Raises Concerns for Elevated Risk of Insufficient Supplies to Meet Demand in Extreme Operating Conditions

LCG, November 19, 2025--NERC yesterday released its 2025–2026 Winter Reliability Assessment (WRA), which concludes "much of North America is again at an elevated risk of having insufficient energy supplies to meet demand in extreme operating conditions." The WRA does state that resources are adequate for normal winter peak demand, but extended, wide-area cold snaps will be challenging.

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Industry News

Nuclear Plants' Decomissioning Funds Found Low

LCG, Dec. 3, 2003--In a report released by the General Accounting Office, Congress' research arm, 42 nuclear plants were named as not having enough savings designated to pay for decommissioning costs when the plants are ultimately shut down.

Some generating units are already inactive, but owners are waiting for neighboring units at the same plants to be retired before starting clean-up activities. The report stated that savings for some plants is sufficient, while at others, a gap exists that cannot readily be closed by shifting funds.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said through a spokesman that it is not as concerned about a problem such as has been identifed by the GAO. A spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, Steve Kerekes, said that with widespread extensions of plant licenses for an additional 20 years, the plants would have sufficient time to come up with the needed funds.

The GAO report authors found that the growth in the value of savings, if it continues, would pay for plants' decommissioning costs. The distribution of funds between various sites and multiple owners, however, indicated uneven progress.

A concern raised by groups who oppose nuclear power is that because some of the buyers of existing nuclear plants are not utilities, and therefore do not have assurance of a stable revenue stream, they may have difficulty handling the liabilities that will come due at the end of plants' operating lives.
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