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Fact loc-005

newofficial statementreported Carbon commissioners called Ward 250 a 'commercial reactor' needing no water; Valar's own words are research, low water
2026-07-01 · loc-005 · Jared Haddock, Tony Martines, Carbon County Commission, Valar Atomics, NVIDIA

ETV News (3 July 2026) reported the Carbon County Commission meeting of Wednesday 1 July 2026 (ETV's text gives 'June 2' and 'June 1', but its publication date, the fire restrictions ahead of the Fourth of July and the NVIDIA announcement place it on 1 July; the commission's 1 July minutes record the same celebration, csite-026). As ETV reported it, Commissioner Jared Haddock described Ward 250 as having recently become 'the first government-approved commercial reactor' to achieve a self-sustaining reaction outside a federal lab, and Commissioner Tony Martines said that because Valar's reactor is gas-cooled and NVIDIA's chips are air-cooled, the planned data center won't need water. Set beside the record: Valar's own February 2026 release says Ward 250 is a research reactor and 'not a commercial power plant' (loc-003); DOE's pilot is for research and 'not' to demonstrate commercial suitability (gov-007); DOE's 'first DOE authorized reactor built outside of a national laboratory' holds (orig-010). On water, Valar's own account to Emery County was that the data center would use a closed-loop cooling system 'designed for low water consumption' and that it already had the water it needs, while seeking up to 1,000 more shares for other projects (ETV, 28 July; mine-042). The 'first outside a federal lab' part holds; 'commercial' and 'won't need water' go beyond what Valar and DOE say.

In plain termsTwo Carbon County commissioners, speaking at a public meeting as the local paper reported it, described Valar's test reactor as a 'commercial' reactor and its planned data center as needing no water. The officials' description, as reported, differs from Valar's own: Valar calls Ward 250 a research reactor that is not a commercial power plant, and says the data center would use little water, not none.
verified 2026-09-29: Re-read ETV 3 July, the Feb 2026 Valar release and ETV 28 July: holds as ETV's paraphrase. Plain field now says 'as reported'. Correction 2026-09-29 (wording review): comparison restated as a difference; the difference is stated.

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