Valar Atomics, a nuclear startup, is planning to place 456 small nuclear reactors on more than 9,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land near Price, Utah, according to documents reviewed by NPR.
The company calls the proposal “Project Beehive.” In addition to the reactors, the site would include data centers, a facility to make nuclear fuel, and nuclear waste storage. The reactors would generate around 9.6 gigawatts of power, more than double Utah’s current average electricity output. Construction could begin by the end of this year, with the first reactors online in 2028. Valar has also sought about 650 acres of state land for the project, which the Salt Lake Tribune first reported last week.
Valar has benefited from the Trump administration’s nuclear push. Its test reactor won quick approval this year after the Energy department quietly overhauled its safety rules. Masha Bucher, whose firm co-led a $130 million funding round for Valar, is a former pro-Putin activist who worked as Jeffrey Epstein’s publicist, Mother Jones reported in February.
“If we have facilities like this on public land for waste storage, for massive nuclear development, for data centers, that’s going to have tremendous implications for how public lands are used,” said Lexi Tuddenham, executive director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.
Quick hits
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Quote of the day
With DPA authority, and a National Energy Emergency, Burgum now has everything he needs to move forward with data center construction on public lands under the guise of “national security,” without any public notice or input. The first we learn of these projects may be when they break ground.”
—Journalist Wes Siler, Wes Siler’s Newsletter
Picture This
He got it from his mama.
Bear 89, aka Backpack, has come a long way on his journey to becoming the 2026 Fat Bear Week champion.
Born in 2006, Backpack earned his nickname as a cub when he was often seen riding on the back of his mom, Holly. She helped him survive a serious leg injury, and over the years, bear watchers have watched Backpack grow into one hefty brown bear.
Holly knows a thing or two about hefty. The Duchess of Density won Fat Bear Week herself in 2019. Now Backpack has a crown of his own.
Photo: Yearling Backpack in 2007 with a hurt foot by Ranger Jeanne
(Featured image: Price Canyon, Utah. Photo by Kabelleger / David Gubler, Wikimedia Commons)