Valar Atomics is a nuclear energy startup founded in 2023, headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company focuses on scaling high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR) technology, planning to deploy hundreds of standardized reactors on single "gigasites" to provide grid-independent industrial power. Its goal is to supply energy for applications including data centers, heavy industry, and the production of hydrogen and clean hydrocarbon fuels.
The company made history as the first nuclear startup to achieve reactor criticality. A milestone highlighted by powering an NVIDIA Blackwell chip directly from a live reactor. Further demonstrating its trajectory, Valar Atomics was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to achieve criticality on American soil by July 4, 2026, under Executive Order 14301.
Valar Atomics draws on a team of experienced nuclear engineers and physicists to pioneer a new operational model for nuclear power. The company's technical domains span nuclear engineering, high-temperature gas reactors, and industrial power systems.
