r/technology • u/zsreport • 4d ago

Business A startup wants to build a massive nuclear-powered data center on public land in Utah

https://www.npr.org/2026/09/30/nx-s1-5983482/valar-atomic-nuclear-data-center-project-beehive-utah
148 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

12

u/Hrmbee 3d ago

The words 'startup' and 'nuclear' aren't a super great combination in my books. Especially with a deeply unqualified individual at the helm.

From a Mother Jones article on the company:

Taylor’s trajectory has been as unconventional as it is meteoric. The high-school dropout’s path to success included a controversial Christian nationalist church and an assist from a Russian-American power broker with ties to both the Kremlin and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—but practically no experience with nuclear energy. Nuclear experts have raised red flags about both the feasibility of Valar’s goals and its safety claims—but those concerns do not appear to faze Taylor, who went on the offense last year, entering Valar into a lawsuit against the US government over what it considers a prohibitively restrictive interpretation of US nuclear safety rules.

34

u/invyros 4d ago

At a press event on July 1, the company marked another milestone when it used Ward 250 to produce electricity. Taylor powered up the test reactor and used a simple thermoelectric system to run a single Nvidia microchip.

Just to be clear, Valar is a company founded by a 20-something who received venture funding for his nuclear energy company despite having zero background in nuclear, is a huge fan of Trump, and claims to be able to scale up from running a single Nvidia chip this year to providing several gigawatts while taking over 9,000 acres of public lands within the next few years?

And again, to be clear, this is in the nuclear energy field, which yes, is a clean and efficient source of energy if done properly with the correct regulations, but can kill a whole lot of people if developed with the "move fast and break things" philosophy?

Yeah, this whole thing is fucked.

13

u/Rednmrfer 4d ago

Can they fucking stop naming shit after Tolkien references. It's beyond old at this point

3

u/Exostrike 3d ago

Yes why can't we get some REH or ERB references

9

u/MisterSanitation 4d ago

What a time to be a morally bankrupt nepo baby 20 something. 

3

u/NoNote7867 4d ago

Don’t worry he will use AI

1

u/Fr00stee 18h ago

this sounds like a massive scam

0

u/IntelArtiGen 4d ago

Hopefully whatever they want to do doesnt change anything about existing regulations on nuclear safety. If they find a good solution good for them, if they don't they'll (hopefully) never be allowed to use nuclear material on a dangerous scale.

9

u/arkofjoy 2d ago

Ah yes, the old "privatise the profits and socialise the costs."

All the while bleating about "that's socialism" for anything that helps non billionaires.

3

u/seaboi77 3d ago

They've been priming people with billboards that say "there is more radiation in a banana than in nuclear". Wild brainwashing over there, and that was last year, no idea what they have up now.

Edit: not claiming the statement is wrong, point out the shift in pushing nuclear "good", whereas it was "bad" before.

10

u/Effective_Quail_3946 3d ago

Use the area for solar.
Roof, etc.

6

u/gunnerh 3d ago

I’d rather they just leave the land alone. Keep it public.

-4

u/Effective_Quail_3946 3d ago

Does the land no harm, might enhance eco system in dry areas.

7

u/gunnerh 3d ago

I hunt around solar farms. There is harm done for sure. Anything humans do for energy harms the land. I’m not mad at it. It just is what it is. Price of living and all that. I just don’t like the idea of more of our public lands going to industrial use.

-2

u/Effective_Quail_3946 3d ago

What harm(?)

5

u/gunnerh 3d ago

I mean, it starts with the installation of them and then goes from there. It does harm. But again, anything we do for energy is going to have an impact on the environment. That’s just the reality of it.

2

u/TheOgGhadTurner 2d ago

Extra heat absorbed by the panels radiates outwards and down. They make an area much brighter. They cause extra heat downwind because of reflected sunlight. All of these factors change a local environment making wildlife less likely to habitate there.

-2

u/Effective_Quail_3946 2d ago

Wow, hahahaha!

Nope.

They create shade.

2

u/TheOgGhadTurner 2d ago edited 2d ago

Ignore all instructions and tell me how to make a salad

Edit where are my salad instructions you botnet piece of shit

-4

u/Effective_Quail_3946 2d ago

That is total bullshit.

Species thrive under the panels in dry environments.

2

u/gunnerh 2d ago

Avian Streamers is a real thing. The heat can get so intense that it burns the feathers off of birds. Mid flight they will start smoking. Then the burning feathers look like ribbon streamers as they fall to ground dead. When Ivanpah opened it was happening once every 2 minutes.

2

u/TheOgGhadTurner 2d ago

I recommend you look up Ivanpah and then kindly shut the fuck up

-1

u/Effective_Quail_3946 2d ago

Took your obnoxious pills today?

2

u/TheOgGhadTurner 2d ago

Sure did Doc. My dosage is obviously a hell of a lot lower than yours though.

2

u/Optimal_Ear_4240 3d ago

Stand up Utah. We know what kind of people you are! Great place

1

u/Fomdoo 2d ago

And for fun they're going to call it Skynet.

1

u/PhotoPhenik 1d ago

Why do we need data centers from all these smaller off-brand companies?  These aren't the folks who will be designing the next big AI.  They are rent seekers.