US-based Aalo Atomics has closed a $100 million Series B funding round led by Valor Equity Partners, aiming to build its first nuclear power plant, Aalo-X – a factory-built 10 MWe sodium-cooled microreactor using uranium zirconium hydride fuel. The company is targeting zero-power criticality for Aalo-X in summer 2026.
In December 2024, the US Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office gave Aalo approval to pursue authorisation for the experimental reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Aalo-X will serve as a test bed to refine the technology and validate commercial applications for future reactors, including the Aalo-1 model. Although there is limited public information about reactor specifics on Aalo’s website, the company completed the conceptual design for Aalo-1 in May 2024.
Aalo plans to co-locate an experimental data centre with its reactor – a first-of-its-kind pairing designed to demonstrate the benefits of powering modern AI data centres with scalable nuclear energy. In April, Aalo announced development of the “Aalo Pod,” a 50 MWe modular reactor block specifically built for data centres. Each Pod pairs five Aalo-1 reactors with a turbine, and the footprint allows 100 MW of generation on less than five acres, making the concept ideal for rapid scaling to gigawatt capacity in limited space.
The company has moved quickly, assembling its team and constructing a 40,000 square foot pilot factory, as well as building a full-scale non-nuclear prototype, all within less than two years. CEO Matt Loszak emphasises Aalo’s speed and ambition, noting their goal to prove product-market fit for data centres, then expand into utilities, desalination, industrial heat, and other sectors, eventually developing a reactor ten times more powerful to drive electricity costs toward 3 cents per kWh.
