Valar's public safety agreement still lists 4.95% fuel, unchanged in every copy from Nov. 2025 to Sept. 2026

recordconfirmed

2026-09 · dir-009 · Valar Atomics, U.S. Department of Energy

Valar publishes one version of the Ward 250 Nuclear Safety Design Agreement (No. 100403, Revision 02, dated October 2025). The Internet Archive holds seven captures of that PDF (7 November 2025; 1 January, 3 March, 5 July, 6 July, 6 August and 18 September 2026); with the live file as of late September 2026, all eight are the same file, and each carries the fuel line 'Fuel Enrichment 4.95% U-235 LEU limits'. So the public copy was not revised after DOE's packaging review approved shipping HALEU fuel to Ward 250 (20 May 2026, safe-010) or after the reactor's first criticality (18 June 2026, orig-010). The agreement itself says that if the fuel differs from its specification, the safety assumptions will be updated in the later Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis, of which no public copy was found (safe-007); an updated analysis may exist. The companion Quality Assurance Program Description (No. 100474, Revision 02) is likewise unchanged across its six copies.

In plain termsThe only safety agreement the public can read still says the reactor's fuel is 4.95% enriched. It has not been changed since at least November 2025, even after DOE approved shipping richer HALEU fuel to the reactor and the reactor started up. The company may have updated its fuel numbers in a later safety analysis, but no public copy of that document was found in the records read.

Ward250 Nuclear Safety Design Agreement, No. 100403 Rev 02: Internet Archive copy of 7 Nov 2025 (Valar Atomics (via Internet Archive), 2025-10) primary company “Fuel Enrichment 4.95% U-235 LEU limits”
Ward250 Nuclear Safety Design Agreement, No. 100403 Rev 02: Internet Archive copy of 18 Sept 2026 (Valar Atomics (via Internet Archive), 2025-10) primary company “Fuel Enrichment 4.95% U-235 LEU limits”
Ward250 Nuclear Safety Design Agreement, No. 100403 Rev 02 (live file, as of late September 2026) (Valar Atomics, 2025-10) primary company
Ward250 San Rafael Facility Quality Assurance Program Description, No. 100474, Rev 02 (status: Approved) (Valar Atomics, 2025-10) primary company

verified 2026-10-02: Every archived copy of the PDF has the same text (Internet Archive captures from 7 November 2025 to 18 September 2026, plus the live file); the 4.95% line is in each. Copies are kept; the PDF files themselves are also identical (rechecked 2 Oct 2026). QAPD: 6 copies, identical text. Revised before publication (late September 2026): the archive index lists a 6 July 2026 capture the first count missed; seven captures plus the live file, all identical. Revised before publication (2026-10-01): wording made more exact against the cited records.

In tabs: Safety Related Issues, Operations, Timeline