2026 H.B. 78, 'Nuclear Regulatory Amendments' (Rep. Carl Albrecht, Sen. Derrin Owens; effective 6 May 2026), creates a Nuclear Energy Regulatory Office inside the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control (DWMRC), lets the division regulate fuel-cycle activities (enrichment, fabrication, storage, waste) 'subject to authorization' by the NRC, directs it to weigh expanded Agreement State status, and requires a yearly report to the Natural Resources interim committee by 30 November. Its new 19-3-321 exempts from Part 3 of the Radiation Control Act, 'Placement of High Level Nuclear Waste' (whose licensing path requires approval by the governor and Legislature, 19-3-304), the interim storage of waste that is 'produced from a project authorized by' DOE, 'from a test reactor', and 'at a facility owned by the state', but only if the project 'is permitted and licensed by the division'. Ward 250 is the one DOE-authorized test reactor on state-owned property in Utah found in the record (csite-023, mine-035). No DWMRC permit or license naming Valar was found (open question in carbon_site.json); the lab itself holds low-level radioactive-material licenses, per its director's August 2025 remarks to the Energy Research Board (gov-013). The bill does not give the state any authority over a DOE-authorized reactor's operation, which stays with DOE (safe-034).

• H.B. 78 Nuclear Regulatory Amendments, 2026 General Session, Enrolled Copy (Utah State Legislature, 2026-03) primary government “is produced at a facility owned by the state”
• Utah Code Title 19, Chapter 3, Part 3, Placement of High Level Nuclear Waste (section list) (Utah State Legislature) primary government