Donald Trump · U.S. · NPR Technology
Red, white and glowing blue: Trump's push for new reactors reaches the finish line
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Valar Atomics was one of the first companies to bring its new nuclear reactor online.
Key facts
- President Trump displays an executive order regarding nuclear reactor testing in the Oval Office of the White House on May 23, 2025
- By July 4, we're tracking to get the reactor into DOME and to initiate the testing," she told NPR this month
- A little over a year ago, President Trump set an ambitious goal: He wanted to see American companies build at least three new experimental nuclear reactors by July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary
- Aalo Atomics' Critical Test Reactor stands inside the company's facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho
Summary
A little over a year ago, President Trump set an ambitious goal: He wanted to see American companies build at least three new experimental nuclear reactors by July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Shortly after Trump signed an executive order enshrining his goal, the Department of Energy launched its Reactor Pilot Program. That program has sparked a nuclear race, and with less than a week to go, two companies have already reached the goal of switching on their reactor (" going critical " in nuclear-speak). On June 4, Antares Nuclear announced it had gone critical, and Valar Atomics said it went critical on June 18 and is now producing tens of kilowatts of heat from its new reactor core, which is operating out of a tentlike structure in the Utah desert.