Valar Atomics

  • Airmen assigned to the 452nd Logistics Readiness Squadron Aerial Port Flight support loading operations of the Valar Atomics Ward 250 reactor onto a C-17 Globemaster III at March Air Reserve Base, Calif., Feb. 15, 2026. The mission, called "Operation Windlord," marked the first military airlift of a microreactor and transported the Ward 250 to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, en route to the San Rafael Energy Lab test site. Courtesy: Valar Atomics
    advanced nuclear

    Valar Atomic’s Ward 250 Becomes Second Reactor to Go Critical Under DOE Pilot Program

    Valar Atomics has achieved self-sustaining criticality and completed zero-power testing at Ward 250, its Gen IV tri-structural isotropic (TRISO)-fueled modular high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR), at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Emery County. The project is the second advanced reactor to go critical under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Reactor Pilot Program and the first DOE-authorized […]

  • Fig3-ETU3.0-Reactor-Vessel-Kairos-Power
    Partner Content

    160 Days to Fission: Nuclear Power’s Sprint to Execution

    Sponsored by:
    TerraPower

    For the first time in decades, a wave of nuclear projects across the U.S. is advancing in parallel—from test reactors to early construction. POWER examines how first movers are navigating execution risk, supply chain constraints, and the race to achieve criticality by 2026. For the first time since the 1970s, multiple nuclear projects are under […]