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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Valar’s Ward 250 reaches criticality in Utah
El Segundo, Calif.–based start-up Valar Atomics has taken its Ward 250 test reactor critical at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), becoming the second company in the Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program to reach the milestone, and, according to the DOE, the first to do so outside a national laboratory.
The DOE celebrated the achievement in a June 18 announcement, describing it as a "zero-power fueled criticality demonstration." The news follows a similar update for Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 reactor, which the DOE said achieved criticality at Idaho National Laboratory earlier this month.
2020 ANS Virtual Winter Meeting Plenary Session Speaker
Neil Wilmshurst is Senior Vice President of Energy System Resources for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). He has overall management and technical responsibility for the research and development activities conducted by EPRI with its global membership related to all generation sources and storage.
Wilmshurst joined EPRI in 2003 as a Senior Project Manager in the Plant Support Engineering program. In 2008, he became Director of the Plant Technology department, and was appointed as Vice President, Nuclear and Chief Nuclear Officer in 2010, where, until 2020, he led the sector through the impactful years following the Fukushima accident. During this time the nuclear sector global membership expanded to encompass more that 80% of the world’s commercial nuclear fleet.
Before joining EPRI, Wilmshurst worked in a variety of nuclear utility engineering and maintenance roles with AmerGen and Exelon at Three Mile Island Unit 1, and British Energy at Sizewell B. Prior to joining the civil nuclear program Wilmshurst served for 13 years in the Royal Navy as a Nuclear Submarine Engineer Officer.
Wilmshurst received a bachelor’s degree in electrical, mechanical and control engineering from the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon, a Post Graduate Diploma in nuclear reactor technology from the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and a master’s degree in defense administration from Cranfield Institute of Technology, Shrivenham. He was also certified as a Naval Nuclear Plant Operator.
Last modified October 22, 2020, 11:10am EDT
