Sept 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy said

on Tuesday it has selected Sam Altman-backed nuclear technology

firm Oklo ( 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 ( 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.