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Fact gov-031

newrecordconfirmed The 'test site' is becoming a multi-company nuclear campus: Natura and Nuclea also have state approvals at the lab
2026-06-02 · gov-031 · Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, Utah Office of Energy Development, Natura Resources, NuCube Energy, Nuclea Energy USA, Valar Atomics

State records show the San Rafael lab hosting or courting several nuclear developers besides Valar: NuCube (MOU with OED, 6 May 2025 per OED's slides; named with Valar to legislators in June 2025, gov-019), which POWER reports was instead selected with Idaho State University in April 2026 for DOE's Launch Pad USA, to site its test reactor on ISU's Pocatello campus; Natura Resources, which holds an NRC construction permit for a molten-salt reactor in Texas and whose project at the lab (medical isotopes, a planned test reactor) the Energy Research Board approved the same day as Valar's (13 Aug 2025, gov-013), and which OED told legislators is leasing 'the majority of the space' at the lab (Oct 2025); and Nuclea Energy, a Canadian company, whose MOU to explore siting a 3.5 MW electric test reactor the board approved on 11 February 2026 and OED signed on 2 June 2026, with OED offering to 'support licensing conversations' with DOE and the NRC and to help explore deployment 'beyond test reactors'. Valar itself proposed a 10 MW gas-fired heater for power-cycle tests (gov-014), is buying the 112-acre parcel next door for fuel fabrication and manufacturing (gov-022), and plans a TRISO fuel line (safe-031). The lab told its board in February 2026 it was adding perimeter fencing and ID checks 'to meet DOE standards'. No public safety analysis or environmental review for these other projects was found in the records read, as of 2026-09-29.

In plain termsEmery County residents were first presented one small test reactor for about a year of tests (orig-045). The state's own records show the lab is being built up as a nuclear campus with several companies: another reactor developer renting most of the lab, a third company exploring a larger test reactor, Valar's fuel-making plans on the land next door, and a big gas-fired test rig. Each may need its own approvals, and the public should expect more than one project there.
verified 2026-09-29: Re-read the Nuclea MOU, Feb 2026 and Aug 2025 board minutes, OED's Oct 2025 slides and POWER 2026-09-29; quotes exact. Fixed: NuCube's test reactor is now reported headed to Idaho State University, so it is no longer listed as lined up at the lab; 'none on file' softened to 'none found'.

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