What legislators were shown: OED briefings in 2025, and a 17-slide Valar deck in May 2026 that is all photographs

recordconfirmed

2026-05-20 · gov-019 · Utah State Legislature, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee, Valar Atomics, Isaiah Taylor, Utah Office of Energy Development, Emy Lesofski, Jaron Wallace, Natura Resources

The Legislature's Public Utilities, Energy and Technology Interim Committee has heard about Valar at three meetings, per its posted agendas, minutes and materials. 18 June 2025, under an agenda item titled 'Valar Atomics Nuclear Test Reactor' (described as a plan for 'a new nuclear test reactor running by 2026'): OED Director Emy Lesofski and lab director Jaron Wallace gave 'an update on companies partnering' with the lab, 'including Valar Atomics and NuCube' (approved minutes); OED's slides list 'Valar MOU signed May 16, 2025'; later in the meeting the chair opened public comment on the nuclear discussion (gov-040). 15 October 2025: OED's slide update says the Energy Research Board first met 13 August, Valar broke ground on 11 September 2025, Natura Resources is 'leasing the majority of the space' at the lab, and the state Energy Research Grant Program is 'on hold' until money exists both for grants and to run the lab. 20 May 2026: Isaiah Taylor gave a 'Valar Atomics Update' in a 20-minute agenda slot and 'answered committee questions' (minutes, no detail). The presentation Valar filed with the committee is 17 slides of photographs and headings ('Concept to Thermal Prototype', '10 Months', 'Ward 250 Site Ground Breaking', 'Criticality', 'Reactor Transport', 'Ward 250 Site'): it contains no figures on power, fuel, safety, emergency planning or waste, and does not mention Carbon County, although the state's Wellington lease map was dated 9 April 2026 and the state notice went out 20 April (mine-048, csite-032). One slide shows the reactor vessel on a trailer in front of the State Capitol. Its 'Criticality' slide predates Ward 250's own criticality (18 June 2026), so it can only refer to the November 2025 NOVA test in Nevada (orig-008); the slide does not say which. The meeting audio is posted on the Legislature's site but has not been transcribed for this site.

In plain termsWhen Valar's chief executive briefed the state legislators who oversee energy, the slides he left for the public record were photos: machinery, a groundbreaking, a cargo plane, the reactor on a truck at the Capitol. There were no numbers on safety, fuel or waste, and no mention of the Carbon County site the state was already mapping. Legislators asked questions, which the minutes do not summarize (the recording exists), but the slides and minutes read contain no figures on safety, fuel or waste. A year earlier, in June 2025, the same committee had heard about the Valar test reactor under its own noticed agenda item, and later in that meeting took public comment on the nuclear discussion (gov-040).

Minutes, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee, June 18, 2025 (approved) (Utah State Legislature, 2025-06-18) primary government “including Valar Atomics and NuCube”
3 - Nuclear Update (Office of Energy Development), PUET Interim Committee, June 18, 2025 (Utah Office of Energy Development (Utah Legislature meeting materials), 2025-06-18) primary government “Valar MOU signed May 16, 2025”
Office of Energy Development Update, PUET Interim Committee, October 15, 2025 (Utah Office of Energy Development (Utah Legislature meeting materials), 2025-10-15) primary government “leasing the majority of the space at the San Rafael Energy Lab”
Minutes, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee, May 20, 2026 (Utah State Legislature, 2026-06-17) primary government “provided an update on their work building a new small modular”
9 - Valar Atomics Presentation Material (Valar Atomics), Company Overview, May 2026 (Valar Atomics (Utah Legislature meeting materials), 2026-05-20) primary company
Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee agenda, Wednesday, June 18, 2025 (Utah State Legislature, 2025-06-13) primary government “a new nuclear test reactor running by 2026”

verified 2026-10-02: Re-read the June 2025 and May 2026 minutes, OED's June and October 2025 slides, and viewed all 17 Valar slides in late September 2026. Holds; fixed 'written update' to slides, added the June 2025 agenda item title and that the 'Criticality' slide predates Ward 250's criticality. Corrected 1 Oct 2026: wording made more exact against the cited records.

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