- Valar Atomics announced a partnership with Nvidia to explore AI data centers powered directly by advanced nuclear energy, marking a first for the industry.
- The companies are considering a 30-megawatt, nearly waterless data center in Utah using Valar’s Ward250 reactor and Nvidia’s water-efficient cooling technology.
- Valar Atomics, founded in 2023, reached a major milestone when its reactor became the first startup-built reactor to generate nuclear power.
Valar Atomics, an advanced nuclear power startup, announced a collaboration with Nvidia on Wednesday afternoon to explore the development of artificial intelligence data centers in Utah.
If the collaboration proceeds, it will be the first time advanced nuclear energy directly powers AI.
Founder and CEO Isaiah Taylor invited employees, investors, government officials and others to come on site in Orangeville for the announcement. A massive American flag waved between two of Valar’s boom lifts, inviting people inside.
After walking on stage to a standing ovation, Taylor told his audience, “I started this company with a very simple belief, which is that nuclear reactors ought to be built, and that no team was moving with the conviction and tenacity required to build the future.”
Taylor’s company has moved quickly toward his goals.
After being founded in 2023, Valar Atomics broke ground in Orangeville, Utah, last September. Their reactor, the Ward250, went critical on June 18, and it is now generating 100 kilowatts of electricity. Its energy production marks the first time in history a startup has produced nuclear power.
Their progress has been streamlined by four executive orders signed by President Donald Trump last year.
“When government works hand in hand to fulfill its proper function — that is, to protect the public while allowing growth and innovation — beautiful things can happen. The American way has always been a way of growth and innovation, of looking at hard problems and saying, I can solve that," Taylor said.
The nearly waterless data center
Valar Atomics and Nvidia are exploring the deployment of a 30 megawatt data center, fully powered by their nuclear reactor.
The Ward250’s helium cooling system, combined with Nvidia’s new technology, will allow the data center to operate with almost no water use. The proposed size is 300 times smaller than the approved Stratos data center in Box Elder County.
Max Ukropina, head of projects at Valar Atomics, addressed concerns about water use and electricity costs.
“For families in Orangeville and Emery County, and for Americans concerned about their electric and water bills, this partnership delivers concrete reassurance,” he said. “The facility will create high-skill jobs in reactor operations, data center engineering and advanced manufacturing. It will attract private capital, strengthen supply chains and generate sustained tax revenue without placing new demands on local water supplies for the broader grid.”
Nvidia recently announced its new AI factory design, DSX, which uses a highly water-efficient direct liquid cooling system. Water pumped through the factory remains at 113°F to eliminate the need for power-hungry water chillers.
“We are delivering the means to expand capability without forcing Americans to choose between their power bills, their water bills or their country’s future in artificial intelligence,” Ukropina said.
Americans do not need to choose between AI infrastructure and the water and power they depend on, he added. “America rejects that price. We do not believe in zero-sum games.”
Before Valar Atomics can generate power commercially, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will need to license their reactor. In a recent editorial board meeting with the Deseret News, NRC chairman Ho Nieh said the commission is hoping to shorten federal licensing review times to less than 18 months.
Isaiah Taylor describes the power of nuclear energy
A descendant of a Manhattan Institute engineer, Taylor has long been fascinated by fission.
He founded his company as a 24 year old with the goal of creating nuclear reactors smaller, safer and on a factory line.
“Valar Atomics is the company that is done waiting for someone else to unleash the power of the atom,” he said on Wednesday. “For thousands of years, mankind has been powered by chemistry ... A gallon of gasoline is enough to drive you 20 miles in a car. A candy bar has the chemical energy to let you walk for three miles. But the strong force, the force that binds atoms together, is completely unlike anything else.”
He referenced the Ward250, which sat 150 feet from him.
“Nuclear fission is unlike anything else found in nature. It defies all sense of proportion,” Taylor said.
If the fuel in Valar Atomics’ first reactor were to be concentrated, it would form a five-inch cube. “This is enough energy to send the fully loaded Saturn V rocket and Apollo capsule to the moon 12 times. It’s enough energy to drive your car around the entire Earth 7,000 times. If you were to continuously accelerate a 100-lb craft with this quantity of energy, it would achieve 37% the speed of light,” he said.
The fuel inside the Ward250 will let it continue running for 165 years, Taylor said.
“This is the force that we are harnessing. It is humbling and sobering and incredibly exciting,” he said.
Local and state leadership applaud Valar Atomics
Emy Lesofski, the director of Utah’s office of energy development, told the audience in Orangeville that Valar Atomics has “met and exceeded” the expectations of the state. “We in Utah are grateful to be a part of their story and proud to be a part of America’s nuclear future.”
Lesofski was followed on stage by an Orangeville native, state Sen. David Hinkins.
Hinkins described Emery County’s longstanding role in Utah’s energy market.
“We’ve been the producing county in the state of Utah forever — ever since I was a little kid,“ he said. Hinkins referenced Castle Gate Power Plant, which was a 172-megawatt, coal-fired plant demolished in 2017. The plant ran the county’s uranium mines.
“We want to do everything we can to keep manufacturing here,” Hinkins said. “I want to thank everyone for being here and being supportive. Hopefully we can continue to grow — not too much, I mean, we don’t mind being invaded by California as long as they bring jobs like this."
