Minutes of the Utah Energy Research Board's 13 May 2026 meeting (PDF posted 14 August 2026) record Jess Housekeeper, Valar's Director of Utah Operations, saying in public comment that the final DOE readiness report was expected that Friday 'to prepare for receiving fuel and starting the reactor'. That reads as fuel not yet received (gov-037). DOE's letter amendment allowing fuel-compact shipments from Nevada to the Ward 250 site is dated 20 May 2026 (dir-025). DOE announced on 18 June 2026 that Ward 250 had completed a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration. So, on the record, fuel was on site by 18 June. It arrived after 13 May by Valar's account, and after 20 May if it came in the DOE-cleared package, the only route on record. DOE's categorical exclusion for Ward 250 (signed 22 April 2026) says 'Spent fuel is a single core loading' and 'No refueling occurs during the operational mission'. No record read gives the shipment date, route or mode, the date fuel was loaded, or how many of the 24 cleared blocks moved (plan-025, safe-011). (Updates plan-025.)

• Utah Energy Research Board, Meeting Minutes, May 13, 2026 (Utah Office of Energy Development (Utah Public Notice Website), 2026-08-14) primary government “to prepare for receiving fuel and starting the reactor”
• Letter Amendment of DOE Certificate of Compliance Number 9979 (memorandum) (U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Packaging and Transportation, 2026-05-20) primary government “Revision 20 is amended to authorize use of the Model 9979 for limited shipments”
• Department of Energy Celebrates Second Advanced Reactor Achieving Criticality (U.S. Department of Energy, 2026-06-18) primary government “successfully completed a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration”
• Categorical Exclusion Determination CX-271015 (DOE-ID-26-005), Valar Atomics Ward250 (U.S. Department of Energy, 2026-04-22) primary government “No refueling occurs during the operational mission.”