Valar's post of 7 April 2025 announces that it joined Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Florida and Arizona, with Last Energy and Deep Fission, in a lawsuit against the NRC. As Valar describes it, the suit argues that the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 limits NRC licensing to reactors significant to defense or public health and safety, and that the 1956 'Utilization Facility Rule', issued by the NRC's predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, which requires a license for any reactor, exceeds that authority; Valar says its planned 'Ward One' reactor is named in the suit and that states have begun creating regulatory bodies to host such tests. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's release of 8 April 2025 says the case was filed on 29 December 2024 by Texas, Utah and Last Energy and positions Louisiana to benefit from a favorable ruling or settlement. E&E News (23 July 2025) reports the case is in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, that the NRC first moved to dismiss it, and that in June 2025 the NRC joined the plaintiffs in asking the court to extend a stay to 29 September 2025 to seek 'a mutually agreeable resolution'; the court granted it on 30 June. E&E also reports Valar had not contacted or met with the NRC, with Taylor asking why a company that believes the jurisdiction is wrong would engage (csite-022). The court docket (CourtListener, PACER), the Florida Attorney General's posted complaint and a co-plaintiff's SEC filing refused our reader, so the case's status after September 2025 is unconfirmed as of 29 September 2026. Ward 250 itself went forward under DOE authorization, not under the state-regulation model the suit argued for.

• Valar Atomics is Suing the NRC (The Nuclear Necessity and our decision to sue the NRC) (Valar Atomics (Isaiah Taylor), 2025-04-07) primary company “Valar Atomics' own Ward One is a reactor named in the suit.”
• Louisiana Joins Legal Challenge to Unleash Nuclear Energy Innovation (press release) (Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, 2025-04-08) primary government “positions Louisiana to benefit from any favorable ruling or settlement”
• NRC lawsuit could hand states power over advanced reactors (E&E News by POLITICO, 2025-07-23) news “a mutually agreeable resolution that could avoid or limit further litigation”