By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News | Photo courtesy of the Utah Department of Energy Development
In a televised announcement on Bloomberg, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Valar Atomics founder Isaiah Taylor announced that they had taken up President Donald Trump’s challenge to turn on an advanced nuclear reactor on American Soil by July 4, 2026, the country’s 250th birthday.
“It’s great news for Utah,” said the Governor on Bloomberg’s ‘Balance of Power’ program.” We made some really poor choices that stopped us from being the dominant nuclear power in the world when it comes to energy production … Utah has played a key role in critical minerals when it comes to uranium and others. We are ready to start building nuclear in Utah.”
The San Rafael Energy Center – which the state purchased in 2024 – has been home to several research projects since its opening in 2022. According to the center’s website,” One of our core research missions is to advance nuclear energy technologies. Nuclear energy has tremendous potential to be a safe, clean, reliable, and sustainable source of energy for centuries to come. The San Rafael Energy Research Center is working with partners to develop promising advanced nuclear energy technology concepts.”
This announcement serves President Trump’s recent executive order to spur a “nuclear energy renaissance” and Utah’s “Operation Gigawatt,” a plan to double Utah’s energy production over the next 10 years.
Speaking to the concerns of less-regulated nuclear energy, Taylor stated,” Nuclear energy is absolutely a technology that needs safeguards around it. It’s a technology that, like many others, like the chemical industry, has to have regulations. But one of the most important things you can do to make sure that an industry is safe is to do it often.”
In a post shared on X, formerly Twitter, Taylor shares,” Over the last few months, we’ve been so impressed with Governor Cox’s leadership to create the future of nuclear in the US. We couldn’t be more excited to partner to meet the President’s mandate.”
The chosen site is the San Rafael Energy Research Center in Emery County, Utah.
Over the last few months, we’ve been so impressed with Governor Cox’s leadership to create the future of nuclear in the US. We couldn’t be more excited to partner to meet the President’s mandate. pic.twitter.com/HBGjKo3v2P
— Isaiah Taylor – making nuclear reactors (@isaiah_p_taylor) May 23, 2025
This announcement comes just hours after the Salt Lake Tribune reported that the Trump administration approved the opening of the Velvet-Wood uranium mine in southeastern Utah using a new 14-day environmental review process.
Watch the full announcement here.
This story is breaking and may be updated.