DOE side, as the records name them: Robert (Bob) Boston, Manager of DOE's Idaho Operations Office, led the federal review that cleared Ward 250's criticality test and described the joint test group sign-off (ANS); DOE's May 2026 transport QA approval for Valar is addressed to him. Jason Anderson, a DOE NEPA Compliance Officer, signed the categorical exclusion on 22 April 2026. Julia C. Shenk, DOE Headquarters Certifying Official and Director of the Office of Packaging and Transportation, approved the Safety Evaluation Report prepared by Christopher P. Cable, manager of DOE's Packaging Certification Program, which recommends the fuel-package amendment (20 May 2026); she also signed the transport QA approval memo to Boston (18 May 2026). Dr. Rian Bahran, DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors, was quoted in the NOVA release; NOVA itself ran on Los Alamos's Comet assembly at NCERC, with LANL providing the facility safety envelope and NNSA's Nevada Field Office providing oversight (orig-008). Under DOE-STD-1271 the Energy Secretary (Chris Wright) is the startup approval authority for new reactors unless delegated. Company side: Valar's QA program gives the CEO (Isaiah Taylor) legal responsibility for the facility authorization and the COO/Chief Nuclear Officer oversight of nuclear operations, engineering and QA; Valar's mission page lists Mark Mitchell as Chief Nuclear Officer (orig-003). POWER reports Kiewit Nuclear Solutions was the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Who signed Ward 250's startup approval is not public.

• Valar's Ward 250 reaches criticality in Utah (American Nuclear Society, Nuclear Newswire, 2026-06-22) news
• Issuance of Quality Assurance Program Approval 0049 (Rev 1) for Valar Atomics, memorandum to Robert Boston, Manager, Idaho Operations Office (U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Packaging and Transportation (Packaging Certification Program), 2026-05-18) primary government
• NEPA Determination DOE-ID-26-005: Valar Ward250 Research Reactor (categorical exclusion B5.26) (U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy (Idaho), 2026-04-22) primary government
• Safety Evaluation Report, Letter Amendment of Certificate of Compliance No. 9979 for the Model 9979 Package, Docket 26-35-9979 (U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Packaging and Transportation (Packaging Certification Program), 2026-05-20) primary government “recommends approval and issuance of a letter amendment to the CoC”
• Los Alamos National Laboratory and Valar Atomics Announce Project NOVA Criticality Milestone in Nevada (joint release on Valar's site) (Valar Atomics / Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2025-11-18) primary company “Confirming core physics at zero power with oversight enables Valar's path to elevated operations”
• Ward250 San Rafael Facility Quality Assurance Program Description, No. 100474, Rev 02 (status: Approved) (Valar Atomics, 2025-10) primary company
• Valar Atomic's Ward 250 Becomes Second Reactor to Go Critical Under DOE Pilot Program (POWER magazine (Sonal C. Patel), 2026-06-19) news “Kiewit Nuclear Solutions served as the project's engineering, procurement, and construction contractor”