Overview
- Valar reported its NOVA core went critical at 11:45 a.m. local time on November 17 at the Nevada National Security Site with Los Alamos National Laboratory conducting the test, marking what it says is the first such achievement by a venture-backed startup.
- Zero-power criticality confirms a self-sustaining fission chain reaction with negligible heat, providing an early validation of fuel geometry and reactor physics rather than power production.
- The test was carried out through a collaboration that paired Valar’s fuel and technology with LANL components and operational capacity built on prior lab fuel trials.
- The effort falls under the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program, created by executive action to accelerate advanced reactors and targeting at least three startups reaching criticality by July 4, 2026.
- Valar is continuing tests, has begun construction at its first site in Utah, and is aiming for an operating reactor by July 4, 2026, while still needing NRC approval for commercial operation as its lawsuit challenging oversight proceeds.