Aalo Atomics

partnered with

Idaho National Laboratory

Development of EMRALD Modifications to
Support Economic Generational Risk Analysis
and Design Decision Capabilities – NE-26-39141

YEAR AWARDED: FY-2026

ABSTRACT:

Aalo Atomics, located in Austin, TX, is developing the Aalo-1 advanced microreactor to be deployed in a pack called a pod. Aalo uses Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Event Modeling Risk Assessment using Linked Diagrams (EMRALD) software to perform Generational Risk Analysis (GRA) for reactor availability, economics, and safety optimization. The current EMRALD capabilities need enhancements to better represent uncertainty quantification, automated sensitivity analysis, and evolving reactor design details needed for engineering tradeoff decisions.

Aalo will work with INL to expand EMRALD’s modeling and simulation capabilities so Aalo can optimize reactor design, economics, and operational reliability. INL developed the EMRALD dynamic risk assessment software and has extensive expertise in advanced reactor modeling, reliability analysis, and microreactor development.

The project will improve advanced reactor economics, plant availability, and safety analysis capabilities by enabling more sophisticated uncertainty and sensitivity analyses during reactor design. The enhanced EMRALD tools could help reduce regulatory uncertainty, support more economically competitive microreactor deployments, and enable dispatchable nuclear energy systems rather than only traditional baseload generation.