Valar Atomics breaks ground in Utah

September 25, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News
The golden ground-breaking shovels for Valar’s USREL site are posed dramatically in front of an American flag hung on a Kiewit excavator. (Source: Valar Atomics)

El Segundo, Calif.–based reactor start-up Valar Atomics recently announced that it has broken ground on its test reactor, the Ward 250, at Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), becoming the second company participating in the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program to do so.

DOE fast tracks test reactor projects: What to know

August 12, 2025, 4:07PMNuclear News

The race to bring test reactors on line by July 4, 2026, got a boost today when the Department of Energy unveiled the names of 10 companies selected for the Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program—a new pathway that allows reactor authorization outside national labs.

As first outlined in one of the four executive orders on nuclear energy released by President Trump on May 23 and in the request for applications for the Reactor Pilot Program released June 18, the companies must use their own money and sites—and DOE authorization—to get reactors operating. What they won’t need is a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.