Valar Atomics proposes 9.4-gigawatt AI datacenter campus powered by small modular reactors in Utah, targeting first reactor deployment in 2028.

Plans have been revealed for a multi-gigawatt data center campus powered by small modular reactors in Utah. Valar Atomics is planning a development called Project Beehive on more than 9,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land near Price in Carbon County, approximately 199 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.

The campus would include data centers alongside roughly 456 small modular reactors, as well as facilities for nuclear fuel production and waste storage, according to a company proposal reviewed by federal regulators. The reactors could generate up to 9.6GW of electrical capacity and produce thermal heat for reuse.

Construction could begin as late as year-end, with the first reactors coming online in 2028 and the project fully operational by 2032. To date, no company has placed an SMR into commercial operation, despite multiple firms developing designs.

Some 650 acres of the project span state land alongside federal holdings. A land-use agreement was presented at a recent Utah Trust Lands Administration meeting. The Bureau of Land Management's Utah office confirmed receiving an application and said it is "currently reviewing the application for completeness." As the proposal moves through the required National Environmental Policy Act process, the bureau stated it "will make sure the public has meaningful opportunities to provide input."

Valar told NPR that "no construction begins before permits and approvals, and the public process leads along our internal targets set the pace."

Founded in 2023, Valar Atomics is developing a Generation IV high-temperature gas reactor. The company's 5MW Ward 250 design completed a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Emery County in June. Valar intends to deploy 25MW reactors at Project Beehive. In July, the company powered up the test reactor and used a simple thermoelectric system to operate a single Nvidia GPU.

Separately, Altigen Energy, which develops natural gas power plants for data centers, is targeting an area east of Wellington for its "Jurassic Spark" project on 1,200 acres. The site would initially feature 250MW of natural gas capacity, eventually scaling to 3GW. Wellington, located in Carbon County approximately six miles south of Price, received Altigen's project application in March.