Operation Windlord behind the scenes master thread. Hundreds of people across DOE, DOW, and our own Valar team worked tirelessly to perform this demonstration. Thanks for following along for the first-ever C-17 airlift of a nuclear reactor. Now on to power operations by July 4.

On this Memorial Day, Valar Atomics honors all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country. #FreedomIsNotFree

I enjoyed taking Jemima from The Information around our first nuclear site and sharing more about Valar Atomics! At Valar, we probably celebrate different things than most startups. A cold criticality means more to us than a billion-dollar MOU. Generating 100kW of actual power matters more than theoretical demand for 1GW. Getting a full, hardened reactor packaged onto a C-17 and flown with the Air Force matters more than another funding announcement. To people outside the deep tech startup ecosystem, these can look like baby steps. Cold criticality was a baby step; that's why our goal for July 4th is to make power. But every important technology in history started with small first steps. The first transistor, the first rocket launch, the first computers all looked insignificant before they changed the world. SMRs are still in their infancy, and infancy is measured in engineering milestones. You do not get to gigawatts without first proving watts. Cold criticality was one small step. Ward250 making first power will be another small step. Then another after that. That’s how real technology development works. First physics, then engineering, then scale. Most people only notice once the compounding becomes impossible to ignore.

You Will Be Unleashed

Utah is a land of innovation and opportunity. I was very impressed to visit the new @valaratomics project on site at the San Rafael Energy Lab where their advanced micro nuclear reactor, one that was just air-lifted into the state, is being deployed to help demonstrate the capability and safety of nuclear energy in the modern era. Very impressive!

Introducing the Modular Citadel production line, capable of producing over 1,000 shielding blocks per year. The Modular Citadel is a pre-cast, self-tensioning shielding system built for mass-manufactured scale. Block production is on track for July 4th!

Three weeks ago, the DOE formally approved Valar Atomics' Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) for the Ward250 reactor. We are on track for power operations before the President's target of July 4th, 2026.

Last night, I had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the National Criticality Safety Program's Technical Program Review, where I shared an update on the incredible work that Valar team and NCERC did on Project Nova. So grateful for the critically important work of NCSP.

Last Thursday, we paused site work and opened up Ward250 to our community in Emery County. Over 300 neighbors joined us for an evening of nuclear reactors and BBQ, and lots of people learned about how nuclear works for the first time. Team Valar is grateful for Emery County!

Today, I'm incredibly proud to unveil our first nuclear site to the world: Valar Atomics at San Rafael.