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.
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!
This Is A Nuclear Reactor Packed Into A C-17 Globemaster III
Micro nuclear reactors are being seen as a way to get critical bases off the grid, but they could also have a major impact on civilian energy production.
Story: https://t.co/OMVxH03Ohk
Today, we’re exited to partner with the Department of War and Department of Energy on Operation Windlord. Three C-17s will be transporting our Ward250 reactor from March ARB to Hill AFB.
Here’s a peek at what it took to bring this operation to life. (Part 1)
Video footage shows Airmen assigned to the U.S. Air Force’s 452nd Logistics Readiness Squadron assisting with the loading of a “next-generation” miniaturized nuclear reactor built by Valar Atomics onto a C-17A Globemaster III at March Air Reserve Base, California, in support of Operation Windlord on Sunday, February 15, 2026.
NUCLEAR MILESTONE: Department of War airlifts next-generation reactor via C-17 from California to Utah, advancing Trump's push for energy dominance and military grid resilience. https://t.co/2TPhnm0tjx
Today, the Department of War transported a next-generation nuclear reactor.
This historic flight took place on a C-17 from California to Utah.
We are executing President Trump’s energy dominance agenda.
Today, the Department of War will execute Operation Windlord, the first C-17 airlift of a nuclear reactor, in partnership with the Department of Energy and Valar Atomics.
Three C-17s Globemasters carrying the 8 modules of the Ward250 reactor will fly from March ARB to Hill AFB.