Aalo Atomics, founded in 2023 and based in Austin, Texas with a presence in Idaho Falls, Idaho, is a nuclear engineering company developing factory-fabricated reactor modules for mass deployment. Its primary product, the Aalo Pod, is a 50 MWe extra modular reactor (XMR) that uses liquid sodium coolant and metallic fuel. The design targets modern AI data centers as a primary use case, with broader applicability to grid-scale power generation for cities and industrial loads.
The company's approach centers on treating reactor components as factory-produced modules rather than site-built structures - a shift that imposes strict requirements on component interchangeability, quality control, and supply chain coordination. Liquid sodium coolant enables higher thermal efficiency and atmospheric-pressure operation compared to light-water designs, but introduces handling complexities: sodium is chemically reactive with water and air, requiring inert-atmosphere fabrication and carefully managed thermal-hydraulic interfaces. Metallic fuel offers high thermal conductivity and fissile density, though its historical development (EBR-II, IFR program) provides a foundation of operating data the company can build on rather than starting from first principles.
As of its Series B round, Aalo Atomics has raised $136 million in total funding. The company's workforce spans nuclear reactor design and mass-manufacturing engineering disciplines.