Valar Atomics has broken ground on its Ward 250 test reactor at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), stepping into the U.S. advanced nuclear race. This event makes Valar the second company in the Department of Energy’s pilot reactor program to begin construction after Aalo Atomics in Idaho. The Ward 250 is a helium-cooled, TRISO-fueled, high-temperature gas reactor with a design power scale of about 100 kW(th), intended for test and demonstration purposes. Valar joins a growing community of U.S. SMR developers pushing modular reactor deployment. One of the most mature is NuScale Power, which recently won NRC design approval for its uprated 77 MWe modules, making it the only SMR technology with full U.S. regulatory clearance so far. NuScale’s design was approved in May 2025, superseding its older 50 MWe module and strengthening its commercial viability. Its planned plants could scale from one to multiple modules, enabling flexible growth. While Valar’s Ward 250 is much smaller in scale, its experimental nature allows for testing in extreme environments, modular validation, and proof of concepts before scaling up to commercial size. Globally, there are as many as 74 SMR designs under development according to industry observers. The U.S. DOE sees SMRs as a crucial part of future clean energy strategy, particularly for dispatchable, carbon-free power options.

Full report : Valar Atomics Begins Construction on Ward 250 Nuclear Reactor, Utah.

For more see the OODA Company Profile on Valar Atomics.