PRESS RELEASE3 MIN READ
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO), an advanced nuclear technology company, today announced the appointment of Pat Schweiger, a veteran executive and engineer with over 40 years of leadership experience in the energy sector, as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Schweiger brings deep, hands-on experience across the full lifecycle of energy system development—including engineering design, testing, procurement, construction, startup, operations, and business development. He has played a key role in scaling robust engineering organizations by building high-performing teams and forging strategic partnerships.
“Pat’s decades of experience and expertise in power engineering will be a tremendous asset to Oklo as we move toward the commercialization of our advanced nuclear technologies,” said Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte. “His experience at the Fast Flux Test Facility provides a direct link to the technology legacy that our reactor design builds on, and we’re thrilled to have him at Oklo, helping to deploy modern fast reactor technologies.”
Before joining Oklo, Schweiger held leadership roles across the advanced fission and fusion industries. Most recently, at Hedron Engineering and Consulting, he led teams working on a high-capacity thermal battery initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and supported projects in the small modular reactor space.
“Those of us who have built and operated sodium-cooled fast reactors like the Fast Flux Test Facility can’t imagine why anyone would want to build a different type—they are inherently safe and operate efficiently,” said Pat Schweiger, Oklo CTO. “Working on a reactor that was designed and operated with that level of excellence remains a highlight of my career, and I’m excited to help bring that success forward again at Oklo.”
Previously, Schweiger served as Chief Engineer at the fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems, where he built the engineering organization from the ground up, managed a team of more than 400 people, and helped the company raise over $2 billion in private funding.
From 2010 to 2018, he served as Senior Vice President of Engineering and overall Design Authority at advanced reactor developer TerraPower. In that role, he established a mature engineering organization, collaborated with international partners, and led complex, cross-functional design integration efforts critical to plant and reactor development.
Schweiger holds a Master’s Certificate in project management and is a licensed Professional Engineer. He holds multiple patents in nuclear technology in the United States and China and has authored numerous publications on reactor development.
About Oklo Inc.: Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale; establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes; and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert nuclear waste into clean energy. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for a commercial advanced fission plant, was awarded fuel material from Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. National Laboratories.