Valar's Quality Assurance Program Description (document 100474 rev 02, October 2025, status 'Approved') applies ANSI/ANS-15.8-1995, the research-reactor QA standard, instead of the nuclear industry's NQA-1, which Valar's summary says DOE approved (safe-005). It covers both Ward 250 and the 'Valarin' fuel fabrication facility, together the 'VASR Facility'. It allows 'more modern and efficient computational codes for HTGR applications' to be used 'prior to their complete validation', relying on safety margins, with Ward 250's data to validate them. It permits design verification by people 'from the same organization' and by comparison with the non-nuclear WardZero prototype, and requires an independent QA assessment before fuel loading. The published 'Approved' document contains many unresolved editing marks: merged words ('Comprehensive Ddesign', 'VTalar Atomics', 'Valar AtomicsValarin'), sentences printed twice in old and new wording, and 'Figure 11: VSAR Facility' for 'Figure 1: VASR'. The document says it becomes effective on approval by Valar's own facility director and president, so 'Approved' marks internal approval. The NSDA separately says fuel particles are manufactured under an NQA-1 program. Whether the pre-fuel-load independent QA assessment took place, and by whom, is not public. The safety agreement's case for ANS-15.8 says the standard covers all 18 criteria of 10 CFR 830.122 (pp.49, 54); that rule lists 10 criteria, and 18 is the count in the NRC's Appendix B that NQA-1 follows (exp-025).

• Ward250 San Rafael Facility Quality Assurance Program Description, No. 100474, Rev 02 (status: Approved) (Valar Atomics, 2025-10) primary company “may be used prior to their complete validation”
• Ward250 San Rafael Facility Quality Assurance Program Description, No. 100474, Rev 02 (status: Approved) (Valar Atomics, 2025-10) primary company “Comprehensive Ddesign control processes”
• Ward250 Nuclear Safety Design Agreement, No. 100403, Rev 02 (status: Draft; issued for Public Release) (Valar Atomics, 2025-10) primary company “Manufacturing under NQA-1 quality program”
• Ward250 San Rafael Facility Quality Assurance Program Description, No. 100474, Rev 02 (status: Approved) (Valar Atomics, 2025-10) primary company “becomes effective upon approval by the VASR Facility Director and Valar Atomics President”