Carbon & Emery County, Utah
The new atomic age is being built here — by the people who already know how to power a country.
Castle Country
Valar Atomics is building America's first nuclear gigasites — energy campuses powered by fleets of reactors designed to deliver abundant, reliable power at industrial scale. Our goal is to make energy abundance a strategic advantage for the United States and its allies.
At the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Emery County, we built and now operate Ward 250 — a small test reactor, about the size of a shipping container's footprint, that proved our design works: it went critical in June, reached full power days later, and generated its first electricity on July 1. Ward 250 is a research reactor, not a commercial power plant — its job is to test, validate and teach. Ward 250 is step one, and it happened here.
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Power plants > PowerPoints
17 November 2025 · Nevada
A zero-power test core built by Valar and operated by Los Alamos at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center. It proved the physics of the Ward 250 design before we built the real thing — and made Valar the first startup in history to split the atom.
15 February 2026 · Hill AFB, Utah
Ward 250 flew to Utah in modules aboard three C-17 Globemasters in partnership with the Department of Energy and the Department of War in Operation Windlord, the first-ever C-17 airlift of a nuclear reactor. From Hill Air Force Base it came here, by road, to Emery County.
18 June 2026 · Emery County
Ward 250 reached self-sustaining criticality and completed zero-power testing at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab: the first reactor built and operated geographically outside the national laboratory system under the DOE's Reactor Pilot Program to do so ahead of the July 4 deadline. Days later it reached full power operations, and on July 1 it generated electricity, live in front of an audience, directly powering an NVIDIA chip.
Castle Country
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Castle Country was built on energy. Coal from these canyons fueled the railroad, supplied smelters in Salt Lake City and helped power Utah and the wider West. That work built towns, sustained generations of families and created a workforce experienced in the demanding work that energy requires. Castle Country is not new to energy. It's been doing this work for generations.
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With generations of energy experience, the people of Castle Country understand power. Its workforce knows large-scale plants. Its local businesses know how to build. And its neighbors ask hard questions and expect straight answers.
The community met the project with urgency, practical skill and a willingness to lead. At the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, we found the space and partnership to turn a patch of dirt into a nuclear test site and bring Ward 250 to power.
The response has exceeded our expectations. More than 400 neighbors came to our first open house, thousands have visited since, and the Emery County Commission backed the project unanimously. We think of this as home, and we're ready to build more.
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Castle Country businesses are already part of Ward 250 — from engineering, electrical work and fabrication to drilling, equipment, lumber and everyday supplies. Local workers and contractors helped turn bare ground into a working nuclear site.
Valar is opening new paths for plant operators, welders, electricians, technicians and young people entering the trades. As we grow, that means more high-skill jobs, a stronger regional supply chain and more careers that let people build a future here.
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Ward 250 uses TRISO fuel: uranium kernels enclosed in layers of carbon and ceramic designed to retain fission products. Helium coolant is chemically inert, while graphite helps manage heat within the core.
Together, these features enable what engineers call passive, or "walk-away," safety. After shutdown, decay heat can leave the core without powered pumps or operator action. On June 26, 2026, we demonstrated that publicly. We shut down Ward 250, switched off every active cooling system and simulated a total loss of electrical power. Then we watched the reactor cool itself safely, exactly as designed.
Safety also means oversight and openness. Ward 250 operates under Department of Energy authorization through the Reactor Pilot Program, with DOE-approved safety documentation and a completed operational readiness review. Our doors remain open through tours, town halls and straight answers.
FAQ
These FAQs include estimates and plans. They may be subject to change through regulatory review, permitting, or other developments. Final safety, authorization, and licensing decisions rest with the applicable regulators.
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