Utah has “been downwind before,” a staffer joked during a Department of Energy discussion about radiation exposure.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Valar Atomics plans to start up a small nuclear reactor in Utah this summer. On Feb. 15, 2026, three USAF C-17s flew some of its components to Hill Air Force Base near Layton from the startup’s home state of California. Standing near one of the planes were, from left, Gov. Spencer Cox, Under Secretary of Defense Michael P. Duffey, Valar Atomics founder Isaiah Taylor, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and U.S. Sen. John Curtis.
