Valar Atomics Claims First Nuclear Startup to Reach Criticality
▼ Summary
– Valar Atomics achieved criticality, a key nuclear milestone, with support from a top US nuclear laboratory.
– The startup is the first in a Department of Energy pilot program to reach criticality, aiming for three startups by July 4 next year.
– Criticality means a nuclear reactor sustains a chain reaction, which is the first step toward generating power.
– Valar’s achievement was cold criticality, which tests reactor design but doesn’t produce enough heat for power generation.
– The reactor used a combination of Valar’s fuel and technology with structural components from Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The California-based firm Valar Atomics has announced a major breakthrough, declaring it is the first private nuclear startup to achieve criticality, a fundamental step in reactor operation. This milestone was reached in partnership with a premier U.S. national nuclear laboratory. Headquartered in El Segundo, the company recently closed a substantial $130 million funding round supported by prominent investors including Palmer Luckey and Palantir’s Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar. According to Valar, no other privately-held nuclear venture has successfully initiated a self-sustaining fission chain reaction until now.
This accomplishment also marks a significant first within a special Department of Energy initiative. The program, established under an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump, aims to help at least three startups reach criticality by July 4 of next year. By streamlining federal oversight, the initiative has accelerated regulatory approval, enabling companies to hit key technical milestones far more rapidly than under previous rules.
Isaiah Taylor, founder of Valar Atomics, described the event as a pivotal moment. “Zero power criticality is a reactor’s first heartbeat, proof the physics holds,” he stated. Taylor emphasized that this signals the beginning of a transformed era for American nuclear engineering, characterized by accelerated development, scalability, and enhanced collaboration between private industry and government agencies.
Criticality refers to the point at which a nuclear reactor maintains a stable fission chain reaction. This occurs when enriched nuclear fuel emits neutrons that collide with other atoms, splitting them and releasing more neutrons to continue the process. For a reactor to function correctly, it must achieve a precise balance, just enough reactions to sustain the chain without escalating out of control.
Adam Stein, Director of the Nuclear Energy Innovation program at the Breakthrough Institute, offered a helpful analogy. He compared the process to a line of dominoes. “If you have those dominoes spaced out too far, a domino won’t hit the next one. If they’re spaced just right, then one hits the next, hits the next, and you have the reaction you’re hoping for.”
It’s important to distinguish the type of criticality Valar achieved, known as cold or zero-power criticality, from the conditions required for electricity generation. While operating nuclear reactors rely on intense heat to produce power, cold criticality tests are conducted at very low power levels. These tests validate the reactor’s design and underlying physics without generating significant heat or electricity.
The reactor that reached criticality this week was not entirely Valar’s own design. Instead, it integrated the startup’s specialized fuel and technology with essential structural components supplied by Los Alamos National Laboratory, a key Department of Energy R&D facility. This combined system builds on a separate fuel test carried out at the lab last year, utilizing fuel comparable to what will eventually power Valar’s commercial reactor design.
(Source: Wired)
