Castle Country shines at One Utah Summit awards. August 6, 2026 The Castle Country took center stage at the One Utah Summit, the annual business summit which unites leaders from across the state, as the area saw several businesses and individuals honored for their work in improving the lives of Utahns. The first major award presented was the Utah Business of the Year, which is given to a business that "demonstrates innovation, has an entrepreneurial spirit, is making a positive economic impact on its local community measured by job creation, revenue growth, contribution to the local tax base, and is a good corporate citizen." This honor was presented to Intermountain Electronics. Headquartered in Price, Utah, Intermountain Electronics currently has four factories across the country, spanning from Utah to Ohio. The company works heavily in the power and utilities, oil and gas and mining industries. According to its website, IE aims to "provide an unparalleled mix of electro-mechanical capabilities, industry expertise, and flexibility, making us your 'easy button' for critical projects." Outside of their industrial work, IE is recognizable across the area for their giving to various community functions. The bold Intermountain Electronics logo is recognizable as a key sponsor at numerous local events. "Homegrown in Price, Utah, IE is instrumental in scaling massive power and other infrastructure across North America - but ask Chairman John Houston or CEO Bobby Houston, and they'll tell you their real powerhouse is their people and the industrious history and culture of Carbon County," reads a social media post from the Governor's Office of Economic Development. The office continues, "Beyond bringing hundreds of high-paying technical roles to rural Utah, IE is reinvesting directly into its workforce and community - building employee housing and partnering with local colleges and secondary schools to train the workforce they and other businesses need." Price City shared their excitement for the company in a social media post, stating, "Congratulations to Intermountain Electronics! We are proud to have them in our community." Another company within the area making waves on the national stage that was honored at the Summit is Valar Atomics, which received the Horizon Award from the Utah Department of Natural Resources. The award is presented to a company or individual who "identifies emerging challenges and opportunities and takes bold action to advance solutions that benefit all Utahns." In its short time in the Castle Country, Valar has not only constructed the first DOE-authorized reactor built outside of a national laboratory, but has also successfully used its Ward 250 reactor to power an Nvidia Blackwell AI chip in a first-of-its-kind demonstration. In a previous conversation with Castle Country Radio, Valar CEO and Founder Isaiah Taylor spoke highly of the beehive state: "We're super excited about Utah. I think that Utah is very open and accepting of energy in general, wants to be part of the future, wants to build And so we're really excited to scale out here. We think of this as our home, and we're ready to build more." Moving to individual awards, a trio of local leaders received honors at the Summit. Geri Gambler, executive director for the Southeastern Regional Development Agency, earned the Utah Rural Influencer Award, which is presented to an individual who "is widely known and respected for their leadership, mentorship, and convening power throughout Utah's rural communities. Through this person's influence, leaders are developed and partnerships are created." The work of Gambler and SERDA can be felt throughout eastern Utah, through programs such as the Mutual Self-Help housing program, food banks and assisting local governments with important issues like economic development and planning. Longtime Rep. Christine Watkins also earned an award at the Summit, being presented with the Transformational Leader Legacy Award, an honor given to an individual whose "life's work reflects a deep commitment to transformational leadership. It recognizes someone who consistently leads with heart, uplifts and empowers others, and models compassion in both word and action." Watkins first served in the state legislature in 2008 as a Democrat, where she served until 2012 when she was defeated by Jerry Anderson. After switching parties, she again won her seat in 2016 and will finish out her term at the end of the year after deciding not to seek reelection in Utah's House of Representatives. Throughout her time in the legislature, Watkins has been a voice for Eastern Utah. At the end of the 2026 session, Watkins reflected on her tenure in the legislature: "I'm not one of those legislators who go out and just do the really flashy, big, controversial stuff. So, to me, 95-98% of the bills I ran came from my constituents. I was good at it because they weren't those big, flashy, controversial ones. The strength I have in leaving and feeling proud of my work is that I changed some laws that will really affect the everyday lives of Utahns." The final honor earned by a Castle Country Native was the Transformational Leader Award, which was given to four individuals across the state for their work both in Utah Rural Leadership Academy or Utah Local Leadership Academy and for their dedication to "lift those around them and build our towns for a better tomorrow." One of the four recipients was Carbon County Commissioner Larry Jensen. Per the Summit, Jensen earned this recognition for "decades of leadership in Carbon County, construction, public service, and lifelong commitment to the Price community." Castle Country Radio would like to congratulate and thank these individuals and organizations for their tireless work to improve not just eastern Utah, but the state as a whole.

Valar Atomics raises $1 billion to move beyond its Utah test reactor. Key points * Sequoia Capital led Valar Atomics' $1 billion Series B, and Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire joined the startup's board. A separate group of lenders provided a $200 million credit facility.[[1]] * Valar did not disclose its valuation. TechCrunch, citing Bloomberg, reported a $6 billion figure.[[2]] * Ward 250 reached criticality and generated a small amount of electricity under Department of Energy authorization in Utah. That test status is not NRC approval for a commercial power plant.[[3]] [[4]] * Valar describes its Nvidia relationship as a design collaboration for a 30-megawatt AI facility - not a power-purchase agreement, reactor order or operating approval.[[1]] [[5]] Valar Atomics has closed a $1 billion Series B led by Sequoia Capital, giving the three-year-old nuclear startup fresh capital to pursue factory production of small reactors after operating a test unit in Utah. Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire joined Valar's board.[[1]] The company also secured a separate $200 million credit facility led by Erebor Bank, acting as administrative agent, and J.P. Morgan, with Crescent Cove and Hercules Capital participating. Valar did not disclose its valuation; TechCrunch reported, citing Bloomberg, that the financing valued the company at $6 billion.[[1]] [[2]] A large financing with an unclear link to earlier capital. Apandion, Atreides Management, Conviction, Dream Ventures, HOF Capital, Point72, Riot Ventures, Snowpoint Ventures and Valor Equity Partners joined the equity financing, Valar said. The company described the proceeds as funding for vertically integrated reactor manufacturing, deployment, operations and fuel production.[[1]] The announcement did not identify specific factories, commercial reactor customers or allocations for the proceeds. Nor did it reconcile the new $1 billion total with a March Bloomberg report that Valar had raised $340 million in equity and $110 million in debt at a $2 billion valuation. TechCrunch previously reported that part of the $1 billion had been raised at the lower valuation, suggesting the financing may include multiple closings rather than $1 billion of entirely new capital.[[2]] [[6]] Valar says its goal is to progress from individual demonstration reactors to fleets produced in factories. Repeat production, however, will require qualified fuel and component supply chains, approved commercial sites, trained operators and a licensing path acceptable to federal regulators. What Ward 250 has demonstrated. Discover more Business Formation Ward 250 achieved a controlled, self-sustaining chain reaction on June 18 at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Emery County. The Department of Energy described the event as a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration and said Ward 250 was the first DOE-authorized reactor built outside a national laboratory.[[3]] The reactor is a high-temperature gas-cooled design using helium coolant, graphite moderation and TRISO fuel, in which uranium kernels are surrounded by ceramic layers intended to retain fission products. Nuclear Newswire identified Ward 250 as a 100-kilowatt-thermal test reactor and reported that Valar began raising its power after criticality.[[4]] [[7]] Valar later used electricity from the reactor to power a Blackwell-based Nvidia computer during a demonstration. Bloomberg characterized the output as a trickle of electricity temporarily used to run the system and host a website.[[5]] The test campaign provides operating and engineering data, but Ward 250 is not the commercial product described in Valar's expansion plans. The Utah laboratory says the architecture is intended eventually to scale to a 5-megawatt design. Thermal output, electrical output and the projected performance of a future commercial reactor should not be treated as interchangeable figures.[[4]] Discover more Computer Servers AI technology consulting Urban & Regional Planning The Nvidia agreement is still a development project. Valar says it and Nvidia are collaborating on the design of a 30-megawatt AI computing facility that would minimize reliance on municipal water supplies through closed-loop cooling. The disclosed scope is exploratory development, not a power-purchase agreement, reactor order or commitment by Nvidia to finance a nuclear plant.[[1]] [[5]] The public announcements reviewed for this article do not provide a specific project parcel, construction budget, delivery date or regulatory route for the facility. They also do not identify the computing-site owner or the number and output of commercial reactors that would supply it. Commercial deployment remains separate from the DOE test program. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's public list of active advanced-reactor applicants and pre-applicants, updated July 15, does not include Valar. NRC authorization is generally required to construct and operate a commercial reactor, while DOE describes its pilot program as a demonstration pathway intended to support later commercial licensing.[[8]] [[9]] Safety confidence will depend on how Valar's design, fuel and operating data withstand that process. Georgia Tech nuclear engineering professor Anna Erickson criticized the company's early safety claims in 2025, saying, "It's not fairy dust - this is engineering." Her comments preceded Ward 250's DOE-authorized operation, but the distinction remains relevant: successful testing does not substitute for a public commercial licensing case.[[3]] [[10]] An earlier Valar presentation listed 2028 as its target for commercial deployment. The new financing announcement did not reaffirm that date, and the company has not publicly disclosed an NRC application, commercial customer or construction schedule that would substantiate it.[[11]] Companies mentioned. Discover more Engineering & Technology Cloud Storage Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence At the intersection of AI, tech, and markets. The stories that matter, in one email. Free - unsubscribe anytime.

Sequoia leads billion-dollar round for nuclear startup Valar Atomics. US nuclear startup Valar Atomics has closed a one-billion-dollar equity financing round led by Sequoia, according to TechCrunch. Founder and CEO Isaiah Taylor announced that Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire is joining the board, and that the company has additionally secured a $200 million credit line from Erebor and other banks. According to Bloomberg, the valuation is said to stand at six billion dollars. Young company builds mini reactors. Valar is building Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) - miniaturized, factory-built nuclear power plants that are supposed to be cheaper and faster to construct than traditional reactors. In June, the startup demonstrated its Ward-250 reactor, which successfully powered an Nvidia Blackwell system. At the same time, Valar announced a partnership with Nvidia to develop a waterless 30-MW AI factory. Twice a week for free - never miss a story! According to the startup, the reactors generate the engineering, manufacturing, and operational data needed to improve the next generation of reactors, which is intended to accelerate development cycles. Valar wants to build entire SMR fleets. "It took two years to complete the NOVA core. It took seven months to bring Ward 250 to criticality. With every reactor built, the cycle rate gets shorter, until Valar is producing dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of reactors per year," the unicorn states. The fresh funding is intended to enable the next milestone: the manufacturing of entire fleets of SMRs. Valar is far from the only startup pursuing such ambitions. In recent months, Antares raised $470 million, while X-energy brought in over $1 billion through its IPO. The market for modular nuclear reactors is gaining massive momentum, driven by the exploding energy demands of the AI industry. In addition to Sequoia, participants in the Valar round included Apandion Capital, Atreides Management, Conviction, Dream Ventures, HOF Capital, Point72, Riot Ventures, Snowpoint Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners. Aus Datenschutz-Gründen ist dieser Inhalt ausgeblendet. Die Einbettung von externen Inhalten kann in den Datenschutz-Einstellungen aktiviert werden: