Sept 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Energy said on Tuesday it has selected Sam Altman-backed nuclear technology firm Oklo, Terrestrial Energy, TRISO-X and Valar Atomics for its new pilot program to build advanced nuclear fuel lines. The announcement comes as part of the Trump administration's efforts to strengthen domestic supply chains for nuclear fuel and support the DOE's Reactor Pilot Program, which expects to have at least three reactors achieve criticality by July 4, 2026. U.S. nuclear power is gaining traction after decades of stagnation, fueled by surging electricity demand from energy-hungry data centers and the electrification of transportation and manufacturing industries. President Donald Trump issued executive orders in May seeking to speed permitting of nuclear reactors and reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an independent agency. The orders allow the Energy Department to authorize the test reactors without the NRC. In August, the DOE said it had made an initial selection of 11 projects for a pilot program seeking to develop high-tech test nuclear reactors and get at least three of them to begin operating in less than a year. Oklo, Terrestrial Energy and Valar Atomics were initially selected for the DOE's Reactor Pilot Program and Tuesday's announcement expands access to the advanced fuel required to test their designs and accelerate the transition from demonstration to deployment. The DOE said that each company will be responsible for all costs associated with designing, manufacturing, constructing, operating and decommissioning their test reactors. (Reporting by Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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