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Plans & Sites

Every site and plan, and promised vs delivered timelines.

recordconfirmed Every Valar site on record (late September 2026): one test reactor, one lease, three pending BLM files, one unbuilt abroad
2026-09 · plan-017 · Valar Atomics, Bureau of Land Management, Utah Trust Lands Administration, Emery County

Built or operating: Ward 250 and its fuel lab at the San Rafael lab, Emery County; the company's design, machining and test shops in Hawthorne/Torrance, California. Used once: the NOVA test core at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center, Nevada, operated by Los Alamos in November 2025 (orig-008). Being acquired: the 112-acre Emery County parcel beside the lab (gov-022, loc-014). Lease approved: on 17 September 2026 the state trust-lands board approved a lease with purchase option for 480 acres of the section north of Wellington, with the other 160 acres to follow if the National Guard's lease there is moved (mine-011); no record read shows the lease signed. Applied for: three Bureau of Land Management cases, all in the Price Field Office, all 'Pending' in late September 2026: UTUT106784007 'Green River Gigasite Small Modular Reactor/Data Center' (10,270.61 acres, case date 13 February 2026, which Valar told The Washington Sun it no longer pursues, mine-008), UTUT106801248 'Project Beehive Small Modular Reactor/Data Center' (case date 13 April 2026, no acreage shown), and UTUT106833224, a distribution-line case with no name (entered 23 July 2026). NPR reported on 30 September 2026, citing a Valar proposal to federal regulators that NPR reviewed, that Project Beehive would cover over 9,000 acres of BLM land near Price with data centers, some 456 small reactors of 25 megawatts of electricity each, a fuel facility and nuclear-waste storage, with the first reactors in 2028; BLM's Utah office told NPR it had received an application and was reviewing it for completeness. The proposal itself was not found in public records. No BLM rights-of-way case names Valar outside Utah, and its other public layers show no Valar claims, notices, leases or permits (mine-030). Valar says it looked at more than 20 states (loc-001); no site in another state was found in any public record read.

In plain termsHere is the whole map as far as public records go. One small test reactor is running in Emery County, next to a fuel lab. The reactors are built in the Los Angeles area. Valar is buying land next to the Emery lab and has state approval to lease most of a square mile of state land in Carbon County. It has three pending cases with the federal land agency: the Green River site (over 10,000 acres; Valar says it dropped it), Project Beehive near Price (which NPR reports is planned for about 456 small reactors on over 9,000 acres) and a distribution-line right-of-way.
verified 2026-10-02: Checked in late September 2026: BLM's rights-of-way records re-checked for customer name Valar: three Utah cases, all Pending, Price Field Office; Green River 10,270.61 acres, case date 13 Feb 2026; latest modification 15 Sept 2026. Fixed: lease wording overstated (board approval; initial 480 acres; signing not found); Launch Pad wording corrected. Revised before publication (late September 2026): earlier fix note reworded (lease wording). Checked 2 Oct 2026: the NPR paragraph matches NPR's 30 September 2026 article as published (456 reactors, over 9,000 acres, 25-megawatt units, first reactors in 2028, BLM reviewing the application for completeness).
company claimreported Sept 10 open house, a week before the Carbon lease vote: CEO spoke of hundreds of reactors in Carbon and Emery
2026-09-10 · loc-001 · Valar Atomics, Isaiah Taylor, Max Ukropina, David Hinkins, Jess Housekeeper, Harry Hansen

ETV News (14 Sept 2026) reported Valar's public open house at its Orangeville site on Thursday, 10 September 2026, for Carbon and Emery residents: small-group tours of the Ward 250 building, food and entertainment. As ETV reported it, head of projects Max Ukropina said Valar has hired dozens of community members and wants to hire more; founder and CEO Isaiah Taylor said Valar chose Emery and Carbon counties after considering more than 22 states, and that Valar aims to build hundreds of reactors in Carbon and Emery counties (ETV's paraphrase, not a quote); he was quoted saying the goal is that many residents will come to work for Valar 'as we grow here in your backyard'. State Sen. David Hinkins spoke of industry easing residents' property taxes. The report does not mention the Wellington trust-land lease the Trust Lands board approved seven days later (mine-011; ETV, 18 Sept), any Carbon County site, a fuel factory or a timeline. When Valar's Harry Hansen (spelled Hanson in that report) announced the open house to the Carbon County Commission on 2 September, he called it a chance to 'come check out what’s going on here in Orangeville' and said Valar planned a town hall specifically for Carbon County residents in late September or early October, date not yet set (ETV, 4 Sept). Whether the Carbon site came up in the small-group tours is not in any record read.

In plain termsAt a public open house one week before the state approved the Carbon County land deal, Valar's founder told residents, as the local paper reported it, that the company aims to build hundreds of reactors in Carbon and Emery counties. The paper's account names no site. So people there heard how big the plan is, but not, going by the report, that up to a square mile of state land north of Wellington, starting with 480 acres, was about to be approved for leasing for it.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read ETV 14 Sept and 4 Sept pages: holds (hundreds of reactors is ETV's paraphrase). Added the 4 Sept report of a planned Carbon County town hall and the 18 Sept source for the site's location. Revised before publication (late September 2026): lease wording now 'approved leasing'.
recordconfirmed Carbon and Emery move to share a $60,000 consultant to chase coal, gas, nuclear and manufacturing deals
2026-08-19 · loc-029 · Carbon County Commission, Emery County Commission, Utah Public Affairs Consulting, Valar Atomics · joint Carbon-Emery economic development consulting agreement (Carbon approved 19 Aug 2026): $60,000

Carbon County Commission minutes, 19 August 2026, item 9 (the item right after the 'Valor Atomics presentation'): commissioners approved, contingent on Emery County's approval, on Commissioner Haddock's motion seconded by Commissioner Jensen (the motion carried), a joint $60,000 consulting agreement with John Cox of Utah Public Affairs Consulting 'to identify and secure economic development opportunities' across coal, natural gas, nuclear and advanced manufacturing, split $30,000 each with Emery County; Carbon's half comes from unused economic-development consulting funds; the commission approved it contingent on Emery's approval. Emery County's 1 September minutes approve 2027 rural county grant projects that include $30,000 (printed '$30,00') for a 'potential Economic Development Consultant' (the grant money comes from the state's rural county grants); one commissioner said he would rather Emery had its own consultant, not one shared with Carbon; on 15 September the commission 'agreed to move ahead with a possible partnership' with Carbon to hire the consultant (ETV). The signed agreement and its text were not found in the county minutes, agendas and news reports read (to late September 2026). On the same 19 August item 8, the minutes record Valar saying it 'relocated to the region from California two years ago'.

In plain termsThe two counties agreed to share the cost of a paid consultant whose job is to bring in new industry, nuclear included. Both counties took it up in public meetings, and it shows they are actively recruiting new industry. The contract itself was not found in the county records read in late September 2026; it could be requested from either county under Utah's public records law (GRAMA).
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read the Carbon 19 Aug minutes (scanned), the agenda, Emery's 1 Sept minutes and ETV 21 Sept: holds. Revised before publication (2026-09-30): the minutes name Haddock as mover and Jensen as seconder
company claimconfirmed The $1B plan in Valar's words: fleets 'en masse', then thousands a year; no site, model, factory or date is named
2026-08-04 · plan-020 · Valar Atomics, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission · Series B equity, as announced by Valar: $1,000,000,000

Valar's Series B post (4 August 2026) says the money lets it move from demonstrating one integrated reactor to 'producing fleets of them en masse', with each reactor shortening the next until Valar produces 'tens, then hundreds, then thousands of reactors per year' in factories 'filled wall to wall' with small modular reactors, and that it will make its own fuel beside its reactors. It names no next reactor design or size, no factory site, no customer and no date. The concrete signs of the next step are elsewhere: a manager for 'one of Valar's first commercial projects' in Utah on the job board, a turbine program, the Carbon lease, a state tax-credit application projecting $1.3 billion of investment and 275 jobs in Emery County, and the 'Commercial Deployment by 2028' target in Valar's July 2025 Emery County slide deck (orig-045). DOE's July 2026 fact sheet, in its paragraph on Antares's Mark-0, says that demonstration set a baseline for 'subsequent reactors' to produce electricity 'in 2027 and the following years'; it gives no electricity date for Valar. Any reactor that sells power would need an NRC license under DOE's own terms; no NRC application or pre-application from Valar was found in public records as of late September 2026.

In plain termsValar raised a billion dollars on the promise of mass-producing reactors, eventually thousands a year. The announcement does not say what the next reactor is, where it will be built, or when. To sell power legally, a reactor needs a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and no application from Valar was found in public records as of late September 2026.
verified 2026-10-02: Checked in late September 2026: Series B post, DOE fact sheet and the July 2025 deck (1295975.pdf, 12 pages) re-read; quotes exact. Fixed: the fact sheet's 2027 sentence sits in its Antares paragraph and was described too broadly.
recordconfirmed Utah-DOE 'Lifecycle Innovation Campus' pact cites Ward 250's 'successful permitting' and plans for out-of-state spent fuel
2026-07-27 · gov-030 · U.S. Department of Energy, State of Utah, Chris Wright, Spencer Cox, Valar Atomics

The memorandum of understanding signed on 27 July 2026 by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Gov. Spencer Cox to establish a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus (NLIC) in Utah (posted by OED; read from its scanned pages) names, as the 'Historical Foundation' of the partnership, 'the successful permitting, development, and testing of Valar Atomics' Ward 250' test reactor at the San Rafael lab. It calls for a later Host Agreement that 'shall address the acceptance and management of out-of-state used nuclear fuel', spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste and greater-than-class-C radioactive waste; says permanent disposal facilities at the campus would be NRC-licensed, with the state never the licensee; has DOE provide regulatory oversight and authorization under 10 CFR 830 for activities not licensed by the NRC or regulated by the state; says decisions on public disclosure under FOIA or GRAMA 'will be made following consultation between the Parties'; and lets either side end it if no Host Agreement is signed by 30 September 2026. It also commits both sides to 'robust community engagement and transparency' (3.1), runs for 30 years, and extends federal nuclear-accident indemnity (AEA section 170d) to the state, campus tenants and contractors. The MOU names no site; the governor's March 2026 release named Tooele County as the candidate host, and no record read through 2 October 2026 places the campus in Carbon or Emery County. Set beside the record: the permitting on file for Ward 250 is DOE's authorization (safe-001, safe-007) and the Emery County Commission's 2 September 2025 building-permit vote (gov-021); no state permit for it was found.

In plain termsIn July 2026 the Energy Secretary and Utah's governor signed a pact to build a large nuclear fuel-cycle campus in Utah, possibly including the handling of spent fuel and high-level waste shipped in from other states. They point to Valar's reactor as an example of the two governments' past successful collaboration, calling its permitting 'successful'. Copies of DOE's actual approval documents for the reactor were not found in public records. The campus's location is not set in the document; the candidate named in the governor's March 2026 release is Tooele County, not Carbon or Emery.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read all 8 pages of the NLIC MOU and re-read the governor's Tooele release in late September 2026; quote exact. Holds; added the transparency commitment, 30-year term and indemnity clause.
recordconfirmed Orangeville is drafting an 'Advanced Energy and Manufacturing' zone for Valar's land; drafts to go through city and Valar attorneys
2026-07-16 · loc-013 · Orangeville City Council, Orangeville City Planning and Zoning, Valar Atomics, Jess Housekeeper, Emery County Commission, Castle Valley Special Service District

Orangeville City records: on 11 December 2025 the mayor told the council he would like to see Valar annexed into the city (minutes; he had first raised annexation in September 2025). On 17 March 2026 a special service district asked Emery County that Valar's parcel be annexed into Orangeville (gov-022), and on 19 May the county sent annexation notices (gov-022); on 21 May the Castle Valley Special Service District board reviewed pending annexations including property near Orangeville 'that may be developed by Valor', noting recent state law changes that allow a streamlined annexation by landowner petition (minutes). The city's 11 June minutes record staff 'working on annexation requirements' and the mayor meeting Valar about annexation. On 9 July council minutes record staff 'working on Nuclear Energy Ordinance', and that the city had sent a draft of 'the nuclear energy industry ordinance' being coded to allow Valar to be annexed; the annexation process was to begin at the August meeting with a Valar representative present. The Planning and Zoning Commission's 16 July minutes record an agenda item 'Ordinance I-2 Advanced Energy and Manufacturing District', with Valar's Jess Housekeeper present as its representative: 'There needs to be a plan for an ordinance for this company and future companies', he 'explained the wants and needs for this company', a public meeting would need to be posted by 30 July in draft form, and 'Everything needs to go through the attorneys from the City and Valar.' The commission's later agendas (11 August, 8 September, 17 September work meeting) do not list the I-2 ordinance, and no public hearing on it was found in the council's or the planning commission's notices through the 8 October 2026 council notice (a hearing on a cemetery fee). On 13 August the mayor said annexation could begin once the sale is final (loc-014). The planning commission's 8 September agenda and the council's 10 September agenda list an 'Updated Annexation Policy', the council's item 'to reflect legislative changes'. At the county, commissioners said on 21 July that annexation would put the land under Orangeville's authority for services and future land-use decisions, that it was meant to let Orangeville provide services such as water and sewer, and that it had been considered before Valar's current development plans (ETV, 28 July).

In plain termsValar's growing Emery site is set to be moved from county control into the town of Orangeville. The town is writing a new zoning district, called I-2 'Advanced Energy and Manufacturing', meant for this company and future companies, and its planning minutes say the draft goes through both the city's lawyers and Valar's. Zoning is what decides what can be built and where. No public hearing notice on the new zone was found in the city's or planning commission's posted notices as of late September 2026; when one is, it will be residents' chance to comment.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read all minutes, agendas and both notice lists: holds. Made the 8-10 Sept item exact (agenda listings, not recorded action), described Housekeeper as the minutes do, added the CVSSD May annexation discussion, and removed an uncited legal claim from the plain-language summary.
recordconfirmed Utah approved up to $106.7M in tax credits for Valar in July 2026 (Emery County); like all 13 tax-credit applicants the board took up from April to September 2026, it was not named on the public agenda
2026-07-09 · csite-024 · Governor's Office of Economic Development, Valar Atomics, Emery County · maximum REDTIF post-performance tax credit, 10 years: $106,737,499; projected capital investment (Emery County): $1,299,110,000

The Board of the Governor's Office of Economic Development approved, by unanimous consent on 9 July 2026, a REDTIF post-performance refundable tax credit for Valar Atomics Inc. of up to $106,737,499: 50% of new state tax revenue for 10 years, with projected capital investment of $1,299,110,000, 275 jobs at an average wage of $137,567, in Emery County. The credit is paid only after new revenue is receipted, is 'site specific and subject to local incentive participation', and needs a local incentive approved by the GOED Incentives Committee. The notice and agenda, posted 7 July, described the item only as a company in 'the energy and advanced manufacturing industry' (the same agenda named the three companies up for economic development zones, but not the other tax-credit applicant); every agenda of the board from April to September 2026 described its tax-credit applicants only by industry (13 companies in five meetings, up to about $549 million in all, from a food manufacturer to a lithium project; Valar's share was about 19%), and the materials naming them were posted during or after each meeting; the board materials naming Valar were attached to the notice at 1:00 p.m. on 9 July, after the meeting, which was scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon. Utah's records law lets agencies protect records that would reveal incentive negotiations if disclosure would cause the company actual economic harm or put the agency at a competitive disadvantage (63G-2-305(35)), and the July 9 minutes carry that label. Per the minutes, Valar's representatives spoke of a 'waterless data center in Orangeville' and plans 'to install additional commercial units in the area', and an Emery County commissioner spoke in support. As of late September 2026, no state incentive record for the Carbon County campus was found in the GOED board records read.

In plain termsThe state approved giving Valar back up to about $107 million in state taxes over ten years, paid only out of new state tax revenue and tied to job and wage targets; the board materials project a $1.3 billion investment and 275 jobs in Emery County. Per the minutes, Valar's representatives spoke of a data center in Orangeville and more commercial units in the area. Before the vote, the public agenda said only that an energy company was up for approval; the documents naming Valar were posted after the meeting. The board's agendas described all 13 of its tax-credit applicants from April to September 2026 only by industry, and the documents naming them were posted during or after each meeting. State law allows incentive talks to be kept confidential in some cases. The Carbon County campus is not part of this incentive.
verified 2026-10-02: Holds, with one addition. Re-read in late September 2026: July 9 notice (posted 2026-07-07 15:18; attachments: agenda and June minutes added 7 July, board materials added 9 July 13:00, audio 13:05); agenda docx (no company named for incentives); board materials pp. 1-3; July 9 minutes (docx headed 'Incentive Committee Meeting Minutes' and 'PROTECTED BY 63G-2-305(35)', attached to the Sept 10 notice); Utah Code 63G-2-305(35). Unsourced expansion of 'REDTIF' removed. Named individuals other than officials are Valar staff speaking publicly for the company. Corrected 2026-09-30: reworded the plain-language text.
recordreported July 1, 2026 Orangeville event: Valar and NVIDIA announce they are exploring a 30 MW nuclear-powered data center
2026-07-01 · orig-042 · Valar Atomics, NVIDIA, Isaiah Taylor, Emy Lesofski, David Hinkins, Deseret News

Deseret News (Eva Terry, July 1, 2026) reported an event at Valar's Orangeville site with Taylor, an NVIDIA energy-policy director, Utah energy office director Emy Lesofski and State Sen. David Hinkins, where the companies said they are exploring a 30 megawatt data center fully powered by Valar's reactors. The article says Ward 250 was 'now generating 100 kilowatts of electricity'; that wording cannot match the 100 kW continuous thermal limit in Valar's safety agreement, which allows 250 kW only for up to an hour: a reactor limited to 100 kW of heat cannot deliver 100 kW of electricity, because turning heat into electricity always loses part of it. The figure is most likely the thermal rating reported as electric.

In plain termsOn July 1, 2026 at the Emery County site, Valar and NVIDIA said they are exploring a 30-megawatt data center run on Valar reactors. The newspaper's '100 kilowatts of electricity' cannot be right for a reactor limited to 100 kilowatts of heat in continuous running, because only part of the heat can become electricity.
verified 2026-10-02: Second check, late September 2026: Deseret re-read: event, speakers (an NVIDIA energy-policy director, Lesofski, Hinkins), 30 MW data-center study and '100 kilowatts of electricity' all present. The inference is now stated with its reason.
recordconfirmed How Emery County approved selling Valar the 112-acre lab-side parcel: bid rule amended, then a $394,500 direct sale approved
2026-05-19 · gov-022 · Emery County Commission, Emery County Local Building Authority, Valar Atomics, Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, Dennis Worwood, Keven Jensen, Jordan Leonard, Max Ukropina · sale price of parcel 04-0019-0030 from Emery County / LBA to Valar Atomics (average of two appraisals): $394,500

From the Emery County Commission's minutes. 20 Jan 2026: the commission began 'the disposition process' for parcel 04-0019-0030 ('the property next to the Research Center') 'solely for the purpose of economic development'. 17 Feb: a letter of support for Valar passed; the MOU for Valar's site-suitability testing on the parcel was 'Tabled' (the agenda listing is in orig-046). 17 March: the county's property ordinance required 30 days' notice to neighbors, posting three weeks before sale, and 'sealed bids'; the commission added a section letting it sell under state statute 17-78-103 (notice, public comment and fair value by two appraisals, no bidding) when a parcel is not posted within 30 days; the county attorney said he had not reviewed the new wording and Commissioner Worwood voted no for that reason; the same meeting then approved selling the parcel to Valar under 17-78-103, subject to a hearing and two appraisals, and let Valar use it as a staging area if the county were released from liability. 7 April hearing: Valar said it wants the land for 'Fuel fabrication and manufacturing' and possible temporary employee housing; the state lab director said the state also wanted to buy it, for 'contiguous ownership to maintain safety', and asked whether a bid process could be requested; Commissioner Worwood answered that the county followed state requirements and called the sale 'an intermediate step' while Valar looks for 'a larger piece of property with water'; asked about incentives, the answer recorded was 'None'. 19 May: the commission (2-0) approved the purchase and sale agreement at $394,500, the average of two appraisals, sent annexation notices for the parcel and the lab parcel into Orangeville, and passed a resolution removing the parcel from the Inland Port project area. 7 July: a 30-day due-diligence extension, already signed by one commissioner, was ratified; he said the land 'has been sold' to Valar. Other items in these minutes: on 17 March a local special service district asked that Valar annex the parcel into Orangeville, and the sheriff reported a recent meeting with Valar on safety. No recorded deed was read (open question).

In plain termsEmery County approved selling Valar about 112 acres next to the state lab for $394,500, roughly $3,500 an acre, set by averaging two appraisals. The county's own rule had called for sealed bids; the commission changed that rule at the same meeting where it approved the sale to Valar, before its attorney had reviewed the change. The state lab said it wanted the land too, to keep ownership around the reactor in one hand for safety, and asked whether a bid process could be requested; the county went ahead with the sale to Valar. Valar says it wants the land for making nuclear fuel and manufacturing. The sale followed state law, but it was not a competitive sale.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read the Jan 20, Feb 17, Mar 17, Apr 7, May 19 and Jul 7 2026 minutes and Utah Code 17-78-103 (version effective 6 May 2026: notice, public comment, two-appraisal fair value, no bidding requirement) in late September 2026; all quotes exact. Holds; added two related items from the same minutes. Corrected in late September 2026: sale wording now 'approved selling' (no deed read).
recordconfirmed On paper Ward 250 is temporary: 12 months of running, then cooldown and teardown; its two papers differ on length
2026-04-22 · plan-003 · Valar Atomics, U.S. Department of Energy

Valar's Nuclear Safety Design Agreement (October 2025) describes a lifecycle of about 18 months from authorization through decommissioning: a pre-operational phase, 12 months of nuclear operations in test campaigns, then defueling and decommissioning that returns the site to unrestricted use. DOE's environmental determination (22 April 2026) describes a 24-month research program: about 12 months of reactor operation, 6 months of in-vessel cooldown and 6 months of decommissioning, after which the single core of spent fuel goes in dry casks to an unnamed 'DOE-approved facility'. DOE's agreement with Valar runs from October 2025 to 4 July 2027. If operations are counted from criticality in June 2026, the 12 months end around June 2027, and DOE's schedule puts the end of decommissioning around mid-2028; no record read gives the actual planned end date. Set beside this, Valar now describes the Utah site as home, not just a test site: its head of projects told the state trust-lands board the lab is 'no longer just a test facility', it is buying the neighboring 112-acre parcel (gov-022), it was approved for a state tax credit that requires it to stay 10 years, and its Castle Country page says 'we're ready to build more'. At the 1 July 2026 event Taylor said the fuel inside Ward 250 would let it keep running for 165 years (KSL/Deseret, 6 July); that describes the fuel's capacity at very low power, not the approved plan, which is about 12 months of operation with no refueling (DOE). The two are not necessarily in conflict (the test reactor can be removed while the company stays), but no document found in public records as of late September 2026 says what replaces Ward 250 or whether Ward 250 will actually be torn down on the stated schedule.

In plain termsThe official paperwork treats Ward 250 like a science experiment with an end date: run it for about a year, let it cool, take it apart, ship the used fuel away and leave clean ground. Valar's own safety document says the whole thing takes about 18 months; DOE's environmental paper says 24. Meanwhile the company tells local officials it is here to stay, and at a public event its CEO said the fuel could last 165 years; the approved plan is about one year of running. Both can be true, but no plan for what comes after the test reactor, and no firm date for taking it down, was found in public records as of late September 2026. The safety agreement's 18 months does not fit its own schedule: from the end of its review, the Table 7 pre-operational period plus 12 months of operation already runs about 19.75 months, before any decommissioning, unless the 18 months is counted from startup. DOE's 24 months fits that startup reading.
verified 2026-10-02: Checked in late September 2026: NSDA p. 8 (18 months; 12 months of operations) and DOE CX (24 months: 12+6+6; spent fuel to a 'DOE-approved facility') re-read and hold. 'Took' a tax credit changed to 'was approved for' (the record shows board approval). Taylor's 165-year remark added from KSL. Corrected in late September 2026: the plain-language text adds that the NSDA's 18 months does not fit its own schedule.
newrecordconfirmed Four applications for state site-study permits on about 8,300 acres for 'industrial and manufacturing development' were posted Feb. 19, 2026; none names the applicant
2026-02-19 · dir-035 · Utah Trust Lands Administration, Resource Development Coordinating Committee, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

On 19 February 2026 the state's Resource Development Coordinating Committee (RDCC) posted four applications for Trust Lands right-of-entry (site-study) permits as projects 87096 to 87099, numbered 7672, 7674, 7675 and 7676. Comments were due 3 March and the stated start was 6 March. Each notice says that Trust Lands 'has received a Right-of-Entry (ROE) permit application' for cultural-resource surveys, geotechnical investigations and similar studies 'to evaluate the feasibility of a potential industrial and manufacturing development', and that 'No permanent development is proposed under the Right-of-Entry authorization.' Trust Lands' permit maps, dated 18 February 2026, give the areas: 7672, 1,812.94 acres near Green River (T20S R15E and T21S R15-16E, Emery County); 7674, 5,381.59 acres south and west of Price (T14-15S R9-10E, Carbon County); 7675, 634.32 acres, nearly all of Section 16, T14S R11E, north of Wellington (Carbon County; the map leaves out a small southeast corner); 7676, 487.83 acres in Sections 2 and 16, T16S R13E (Emery County). That is 8,316.68 acres in all. The notices record that local governments were contacted on 19 February. The only state comments were Division of Wildlife Resources recommendations of 3 March 2026: three of the areas are crucial year-long pronghorn habitat; white-tailed prairie dogs, burrowing owls and kit foxes could occur; and hawks are known to nest near two of the areas. No applicant is named in the four notices, the four maps or the comment letters, and no record read shows the permits were issued: the register lists all four as 'State Comment Published'.

In plain termsIn February the state logged four applications for permits to survey and test about 8,300 acres of state land in Carbon and Emery counties for possible industrial development. Who applied, and whether the permits were issued, was not found in the public records read (as of 30 September 2026). One of the four covers nearly all of the square mile where the state later approved leasing 480 acres to Valar.
verified 2026-10-02: Read 30 Sept 2026: the RDCC records (all fields; dates given in UTC and Mountain time), all four permit maps (scanned; acreage legends read at full size) and the four comment letters in full. The acreages sum to 8,316.68. Copies are archived. Second check, 2026-09-30 (two independent checks): no record that the permits were issued was found; 'nearly all' of Section 16; areas recomputed on the ellipsoid.
newrecordconfirmed Near Green River, one of permit application 7672's sections (applicant not named) is state land that Valar's BLM application surrounds
2026-02-18 · dir-037 · Utah Trust Lands Administration, Bureau of Land Management, Valar Atomics

Right-of-entry permit application 7672 (1,812.94 acres; Trust Lands permit map, 18 February 2026) lies within Sections 32 and 36 of T20S R15E, Sections 10 and 11 of T21S R15E and Section 6 of T21S R16E, near Green River in Emery County. The permit map file is named for, and draws beside it, Special Use Lease Agreement No. 1622 (2,441.03 acres); no record read names that lease's holder. Overlaid on BLM's case map for Valar's pending 'Green River Gigasite' right-of-way application (UTUT106784007), Section 32 of T20S R15E lies wholly inside the application's outer boundary and is the only hole in the case map (about 637 acres): state land the application surrounds. The case map also covers about 467 acres of Section 6, T21S R16E (the part that is not state land); the permit application's state land there lies outside it. Sections 36, 10 and 11 lie outside it; they border it, but no part falls inside it. No record read (to 30 Sept 2026) names the applicant for 7672 or shows the permit was issued. BLM's case record, as saved in late September 2026, listed Valar's application as pending; Valar told a reporter it has decided not to pursue the site (mine-008).

In plain termsNear Green River, one of the four February permit applications covers a square mile of state land that Valar's federal application surrounds on all sides. No record read names the applicant. BLM's case record, as saved in late September 2026, listed Valar's application as pending, though Valar told a reporter it has decided not to pursue the site.
verified 2026-10-02: Computed 30 Sept 2026 from BLM's survey-grid sections and BLM's case map for UTUT106784007 as saved in late September 2026; BLM's case map was not re-checked on 30 Sept. On an ellipsoidal equal-area computation the case map has three outer parts (about 13,780, 199 and 82 acres) and one hole, Section 32 (about 637 acres). Sections 36 (T20S R15E) and 2 (T21S R15E) are notches in its edge, not holes. Every figure and sentence was checked twice, independently, against the records. Second check, 30 Sept 2026: no record read shows the permit issued; areas recomputed on the ellipsoid.
recordconfirmed Feb 2026 Emery County agenda: support letter for Valar and an MOU for site testing on a county parcel
2026-02-17 · orig-046 · Valar Atomics, Emery County Commission

The Emery County Commission's February 17, 2026 meeting notice lists two Valar items: approving or denying a county letter of support to Valar Atomics, and approving or denying an MOU letting Valar perform site suitability testing on parcel 04-0019-0030. This shows Valar was seeking to test county land next to the state lab by early 2026: county minutes of 20 January 2026 call the parcel 'the property next to the Research Center', and the county later approved selling it to Valar (gov-022). Valar's Castle Country page says the commission backed the project unanimously. The commission's minutes of the same day record the support letter approved 3-0, subject to the county attorney's review and approval, and the MOU item as 'Tabled'.

In plain termsIn February 2026 Emery County's agenda listed a support letter for Valar and a proposed agreement letting Valar test a county parcel next to the state lab; the commission approved the letter and tabled the agreement. The county later approved selling that parcel, about 112 acres, to Valar (gov-022).
verified 2026-10-02: Second check, late September 2026: Utah Public Notice page re-read: February 17, 2026 agenda with the support letter and the parcel 04-0019-0030 MOU. Castle Country page still says the commission backed the project unanimously. Match.
recordconfirmed 2025: the local paper printed Valar's 'gigasites' aim and a plan for a Carbon County factory hub; no site named
2025-10-10 · loc-034 · Valar Atomics, ETV News, Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, Utah Office of Energy Development, Jaron Wallace

Two ETV News items from 2025, eleven months or more before the Wellington lease vote, show that a Valar project in Carbon County was in the local paper in general terms. On 17 September 2025 ETV printed the state Office of Energy Development's groundbreaking release; its 'About Valar Atomics' paragraph says Valar 'is building America’s first nuclear gigasites', which it defines as clusters of thousands of high-temperature reactors. On 10 October 2025 an ETV article on the San Rafael lab, quoting lab director Jaron Wallace, reported that after about three years, once Valar completes its reactor and proves it can be run safely, 'their current plan is to build a manufacturing hub in Carbon County', which could bring hundreds of jobs to Carbon and Emery; it also said Valar was looking at powering data centers. The article does not say who told ETV about the Carbon plan, names no site, and says nothing about trust land or reactors in Carbon County. In sum, a Carbon County project by Valar was public in general terms from October 2025; no local record read from before the state vote tied Valar to the Wellington location, the trust-land lease or the plan for a reactor, fuel and industrial campus there; ETV's July 2026 trust-land notice for the section named no applicant or use (loc-032), while the state's own board packet and public meeting of 20 August 2026 named Valar and the site (mine-010). The lease was approved about eleven months after the article, sooner than the 'after three years' it described.

In plain termsIn the fall of 2025 the local paper printed that Valar aimed to build clusters of thousands of reactors, and that its plan was a manufacturing hub in Carbon County in about three years. What the paper's news reports did not say, until the day after the state approved it, was where: the square mile of state land north of Wellington (a July legal notice in the paper for that land named no applicant). So the general idea was public early; the specific place, and how soon it would come, were not.
verified 2026-10-02: New in an earlier check: both ETV pages read in full in late September 2026. Tests what was public before the vote: the general Carbon plan was public in 2025; the site was not. Revised before publication (2026-09-30): reworded the detail; reworded the plain-language text; corrected the description of ETV News (its source type and title).
company claimconfirmed July 2025 Emery County town hall: Valar pitched a 12-month test, ~40 jobs, 'commercial development by 2028'
2025-07-08 · orig-045 · Valar Atomics, Emery County Commission, Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, Jaron Wallace, Jeremy Pearson

ETV News (Julie Johansen, July 9, 2025) reported the Emery County Commission's July 8, 2025 town hall in Castle Dale, requested by Valar after an MOU was signed and before its contract with the state lab was final. As reported, Valar said the company was about two years old, had a non-fueled test reactor near Los Angeles, aimed for July 4, 2026 (the nation's 250th birthday, hence 'Ward 250') with commercial development by 2028, expected about 40 employees for roughly 12 months of testing with local contractors for construction, and chose Utah because Carbon and Emery counties are the state's energy hub. A Valar slide deck posted on the state-run Utah Public Notice Website (file created July 8, 2025, server date 9 July 2025; 11 of its 12 pages are marked 'CONFIDENTIAL. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE.', yet the file is publicly posted; the public body and notice it is attached to were not identified) says the same: under 250 kW, 30 effective full-power days over 12 months in a temporary facility, commercial deployment by 2028.

In plain termsAt a July 2025 town hall Valar told Emery County residents about a small 12-month test with about 40 jobs, and a goal of commercial reactors by 2028. By 2026 the company was planning far larger sites (mine-019).
verified 2026-10-02: Second check, late September 2026: ETV report and the slide PDF (created Jul 8, 2025; 'CONFIDENTIAL'; <250 kW, 30 EFPD, 12 months, temporary facility; commercial deployment by 2028) re-read. Match. Corrected 1 Oct 2026: wording made more exact against the cited records.