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374 facts · 512 sources · updated 2026-09-30

Fact ppl-018

newofficial statementconfirmed Utah officials who host Valar vouch for its safety and openness; on the record the state observes, not regulates
2025-05-23 · ppl-018 · Emy Lesofski, Jaron Wallace, Jake Garfield, Tracy Rees, Spencer Cox, Utah Office of Energy Development, Utah San Rafael Energy Lab, Valar Atomics

The Utah Office of Energy Development (OED) owns and runs the San Rafael Energy Lab, is Valar's landlord there, and promotes the project. On 23 May 2025 Taylor announced the state deal on Bloomberg TV alongside Gov. Spencer Cox, who said of the July 2026 target, 'It's absolutely possible that we can do that' (The New Republic). OED's people, in their own words: Director Emy Lesofski said in July 2025 the state's agreement was a non-binding MOU, 'still not a commitment' (UIJP), and at the September 2025 groundbreaking called it 'a historic moment'. Lab director Jaron Wallace said in the same release that Valar's 'concentrated infrastructure' means industrial-scale power for Utah, told local news in October 2025 that Valar must show no dose at the fence (safe-015), and in April 2026 spoke for the sale of county land to Valar (ppl-021). Deputy Director Jake Garfield told the Trust Lands board on 20 August 2026 that Valar had been 'diligent in guaranteeing public safety' and worked with regulators 'both at the state and' DOE. Deputy Director Tracy Rees, who oversees the lab, told the board on 17 September that 'transparency and accessibility are ethos' for Valar. Set beside the record: Valar's own safety agreement says the state 'may observe but not direct' and the state agreements it cites were not found (safe-034); no state permit or license for the reactor was found (carbon_site open questions); the worst-case analysis does show a dose at the boundary (safe-013); and the Carbon site was not named in public until August 2026 (csite-028). On 25 Sept 2026 the lab posted a time-limited Safety Manager position; the listing does not say whether it is new (dir-006). These are statements of support by the office that hosts and promotes the project; none is a safety finding.

In plain termsThe state officials who praise Valar's safety and openness are its landlord and business partner, not its safety regulator. By Valar's own paperwork the state can watch but cannot give orders on reactor safety. Their praise is support, not an inspection result, and it sits beside a record in which the Carbon County site was first named on a public agenda in August 2026, although officials had been talking with Valar since 2024.
verified 2026-09-29: Re-read UIJP, the Sept 2025 groundbreaking release (which also calls Mitchell former USNC president and says the groundbreaking coincided with 11 September), both Trust Lands transcripts, the minutes and TNR. Quotes exact. Fixed: TNR says Taylor announced the deal with Cox beside him, not that Cox announced it; date set to the earliest statement (23 May 2025); plain no longer calls the praise 'sincere' (a state of mind) and states the Carbon gap with dates. Cross-refs safe-013, safe-015, safe-034, csite-028, dir-006 checked. NSDA opened to confirm 'may observe but not direct'; added as a source. Correction 2026-09-29 (wording review): 'Against the record' now 'Set beside the record'; Safety Manager sentence states only what the listing shows.

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