WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of

Energy said on Tuesday it has made an initial selection of 11

companies 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.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

As artificial intelligence and data centers boost power

demand, the U.S. is aiming to develop small nuclear reactors

which developers say will be cheaper to build per Megawatt of

output than today's large reactors because the parts could be

replicated in factories.

The department's move comes after 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.

KEY QUOTE

"President Trump's Reactor Pilot Program is a call to

action," said James Danly, deputy energy secretary. "These

companies aim to all safely achieve criticality by Independence

Day, and DOE will do everything we can to support their

efforts."

COMPANIES SELECTED

The department selected the following companies: Aalo

Atomics., Antares Nuclear, Atomic Alchemy, Deep Fission Inc.,

Last Energy., Oklo ( OKLO ) , Natura Resources LLC, Radiant

Energy, Terrestrial Energy, and Valar Atomics.

The department said each company will be responsible for all

costs associated with designing, manufacturing, constructing,

and decommissioning their test reactors.

HURDLES

Small modular and so-called "advanced" nuclear reactors have

been talked about in the U.S. for years, but the only ones

operating are in China and Russia. Hurdles include getting

permits for plants that generate electricity for the grid,

developing commercial levels of a new fuel some of the reactors

plan to use called high-assay low-enriched uranium, and

developing factories for the reactors when none of the plants

are yet operating.