Holds on the record: DOE did select (12 Aug 2025) and authorize Ward 250, the only one of DOE's four summer-2026 criticalities outside a national laboratory (gov-006, orig-010); DOE's agreement with Valar carries $0 of federal money, like all nine pilot agreements (gov-003); Valar's federal lobbying is modest, disclosed and aimed at Congress (gov-004); Emery County's land sale followed state statute (gov-022); Valar's statement that DOE reviews and approves its design holds for the test reactor (gov-039). Where statements and records part: KUTV reported the governor speaking of NRC oversight while the state's signed MOU named DOE rules and Utah was suing to keep small reactors out of NRC licensing (gov-012, reported); the state lab's FAQ still tells the public 'the planned reactor' gets NRC licensing and NRC-tested operators, which the lab's only operating reactor does not have (gov-026); the state lab calls 18 June 'full-power' criticality when it was a zero-power test (orig-012); Valar told the state's incentive board of 'commercial units' and behind-the-meter sales, which the DOE route does not cover (gov-033, gov-039); Valar said in April 2026, at the Emery parcel hearing, it would 'be open with all plans'; the first public record tying it to the Carbon site is the August 2026 agenda (gov-038); DOE counted reactors at Idaho National Laboratory toward a goal titled 'outside the National Laboratories', though its own application rules allowed lab sites (gov-006); a think tank's release called NOVA the pilot's first criticality, DOE says Antares was (gov-028); officials' statements on transparency and the MOU's confidentiality term and its bar on publicity without both parties' consent sit side by side in the record (gov-011, gov-020); the DOE-Utah campus pact cites Ward 250's 'successful permitting', but no state permit was found (gov-030); county and Inland Port records disagree on whether Valar's land is in a tax-capture zone (gov-023); Valar's groundbreaking date differs from the state's (gov-015). Unexplained: where Valar's HALEU came from, given it is in none of DOE's announced allocation rounds (gov-008). Not found in public records: the OTA text, the DOE safety approvals and the readiness report Valar described to the state board in May 2026 (DOE confirmed in July 2026 that a federal readiness review covering Ward 250 ended in a final report to the startup authority; safe-007, gov-037, dir-031), the state lab use agreement and board-approved terms (gov-013), and the pilot program's application rules (gov-032). Process: no Federal Register notice or comment period specific to Valar (gov-029), no local-government consent required under the pilot's rules as summarized (gov-032), and local approvals given quickly, sometimes with no review recorded (gov-021, gov-022). None of this record shows intent; it shows gaps that records requests can close.

• Memorandum of Understanding between OED and Valar Atomics, May 16, 2025 (Utah Office of Energy Development, 2026-01-12) primary government
• FAQs | Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, 2025-11-19) primary government
• FACT SHEET: The Golden Era of American Nuclear Energy Has Arrived (U.S. Department of Energy, 2026-07-25) primary government
• GOED Board Meeting Minutes, July 9, 2026 (Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity, 2026-09-10) primary government