After a challenging week that saw its stock price dip by 13.37%, Oklo Inc (NYSE: OKLO) bounced back with vigor at the start of the February 26 trading session. The nuclear energy company’s shares surged 12.65%, reaching a price of $35.46 by press time.

This positive momentum for the Sam Altman-backed firm appears largely fueled by an announcement made on February 25. Oklo revealed it would be participating in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Voucher Program.

Why is Oklo Stock Surging Thanks to Voucher Program Participation?

According to the press release, Oklo’s involvement in the Voucher Program will provide crucial support for “evaluation and testing of advanced structural materials” vital for their Aurora powerhouse.

The Voucher Program itself is strategically designed to boost improvements in areas like scalability, supply chain efficiency, and manufacturing processes. This initiative will see Oklo team up closely with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Jacob DeWitte, Co-Founder and CEO of Oklo, expressed his excitement about the partnership and the anticipated benefits. He highlighted the project’s potential to empower Oklo’s customers in achieving their sustainable energy goals:

We are proud of our ongoing collaboration with the DOE and National Laboratories, including this latest opportunity facilitated through the DOE’s Voucher Program. This project helps us refine proven fast reactor technologies to deliver scalable, cost-effective clean energy solutions that empower our customers to meet their energy goals sustainably. With 14 gigawatts of announced customers and partners in our pipeline, we believe we are well positioned to address growing energy demands across diverse applications.

Oklo Stock: Riding a Wave of Positive Momentum in 2025

Interestingly, potential tailwinds for Oklo stemming from the DOE have been anticipated for some time. Back on February 6, the company issued a warm farewell message to board member Chris Wright as he was nominated to become Secretary of Energy in the Trump administration.

However, even beyond DOE developments, the nuclear reactor company has enjoyed plenty of tailwinds propelling its rise to prominence. A significant factor is the involvement of Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI – the creators of the widely used artificial intelligence (AI) platform ChatGPT – who serves as one of Oklo’s directors.

This powerful leadership combined with President Donald Trump’s focus on energy abundance and the ambitious $500 billion Stargate Project aimed at developing AI infrastructure over several years, all suggest a strong outlook for substantial growth at Oklo.

The overall optimistic picture for OKLO shares is further underscored by their performance. While currently trading 36.09% below their 2025 high of $55.49, they are still showing a robust 65.82% gain year-to-date (YTD) and an impressive 316.62% increase over the past 12 months.