DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy set up the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad with the National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory on 5 March 2026 (DOE fact sheet) as the successor to the Reactor Pilot and Fuel Line Pilot programs. POWER (Sonal Patel, 28 April 2026) reports DOE 'will provide no funding' and that authorization, NRC licensing and any lab engagement are paid by participants; it has two tracks, Launch Pad INL (about 2,000 acres near INL's Central Facilities Area) and Launch Pad USA, which extends DOE authorization to other DOE sites and non-federal locations. In late August 2026 (reported 25 August) NRIC named 13 more projects; POWER and ANS list Valar, describing Ward 250 (100 kWt) and the co-located 'Valarin' TRISO fuel facility, and ANS says Valar 'is now proceeding with a planned power ascension', citing Valar's 22 June announcement of 10 kWt. POWER says evaluators looked for waste-disposition planning, financial capacity and 'a credible route beyond demonstration'. The INL/NRIC pages themselves refused our reader (403 and bot check), so the program's own terms were not read. Launch Pad USA would be the DOE route that could, in principle, reach a non-federal site such as Carbon County; no record read says Valar has proposed that.

• FACT SHEET: The Golden Era of American Nuclear Energy Has Arrived (U.S. Department of Energy, 2026-07-25) primary government
• From Pilot to Launch: DOE Names First Four Nuclear Energy Launch Pad Developers (Sonal C. Patel) (POWER, 2026-04-28) news “the DOE will provide no funding.”
• NRIC Adds 13 Projects to Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, Expanding Advanced Reactor and Fuel-Cycle Pipeline (Sonal C. Patel) (POWER, 2026-08-25) news “a credible route beyond demonstration”
• Second round of Launch Pad selections includes eight newcomers (American Nuclear Society, Nuclear Newswire, 2026-08-25) news “Valar is now proceeding with a planned power ascension.”