Nuclear startup wins local approval for up to 120 small reactors beside data centers

[Marlin]

Nuclear startup wins local approval for up to 120 small reactors beside data centers

https://thedailybs.com/2026/11/13/nuclear-startup-wins-local-approval-for-up-to-120-small-reactors-beside-data-centers/

[Core Content]

Carbon County planners in Utah approved a permit for Valar Atomics to build a campus combining small nuclear reactors and data centers. The project requires future licensing from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or authorization from the Department of Energy before construction can begin. The approved proposal also includes a natural gas plant to supply interim power.

Carbon County planners approved nuclear startup Valar Atomics' permit Thursday night for a campus of small reactors and data centers in eastern Utah. The county's planning commission backed the permit at a special meeting in Price, Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Planning Commissioner Lisa Simmons cast the only no vote. Valar's application...

Valar has a second, much bigger plan for the federal land next door. Called "Project Beehive," it would put about 456 small reactors and data centers on more than 9,000 acres near Price managed by the Bureau of Land Management, according to company documents NPR reviewed in September.

Those reactors would put out about 9.6 gigawatts in all, NPR reported. Utah produces about four gigawatts on average, though the state's peak capacity in the summer can reach about 10. Only three new nuclear plants have been switched on in the U.S. since 2000.

Read the full article at The Daily Bo Snerdley:
https://thedailybs.com/2026/11/13/nuclear-startup-wins-local-approval-for-up-to-120-small-reactors-beside-data-centers/