A little-known startup founded by an entrepreneur who has pledged to "make nuclear great again" is pursuing an ambitious plan to install hundreds of small nuclear reactors across federal land in Utah, according to internal documents reviewed by NPR. The proposal, dubbed "Project Beehive," represents one of the most sweeping nuclear energy ventures ever proposed on public lands in the United States, and it is already drawing scrutiny from local residents and activists.
Valar Atomics, the company behind the project, intends to develop the facility on more than 9,000 acres administered by the Bureau of Land Management near Price, Utah. The site would host data centers alongside approximately 456 small nuclear reactors, plus supporting infrastructure including a nuclear fuel production facility and separate installations for storing nuclear waste. The scale of the undertaking, as described in the company's proposal to federal regulators, is unprecedented for a startup in the nuclear sector.
The reactors, taken together, would generate roughly 9.6 gigawatts of electrical power dedicated to the data centers, with an even greater amount of thermal heat available for other industrial uses. For comparison, the entire state of Utah currently produces only about 4 gigawatts of electricity on average, though its peak capacity during summer months can climb to around 10 gigawatts. In other words, the project's electrical output alone would exceed what the state typically consumes at any given moment.
According to the project's proposed timeline, nonnuclear construction could begin as early as the end of this year, with the first reactors expected to come online sometime in 2028. That schedule is aggressive by the standards of the nuclear industry, where reactor projects routinely face years of delays, regulatory hurdles, and cost overruns. Whether Valar can meet such a timeline remains an open question, particularly given the novelty of deploying hundreds of small reactors in a single location.
The federal land component of the plan is only part of the picture. Valar has also sought access to roughly 650 acres of state land as part of the same project, according to state records. The Salt Lake Tribune first reported last week on the company's use of state land, but the far larger proposed use of federal acreage had not been previously disclosed. NPR's review of the documents brings the full scope of the project into public view for the first time.
The proposal has alarmed local activists, who are already contending with a wave of data center proposals across Utah. The state has become an attractive destination for such facilities because of its relatively cheap land, available power, and business-friendly regulatory environment. But the rapid influx of hyperscale computing projects has strained local resources, raised questions about water and electricity consumption, and fueled resentment among residents who feel decisions are being made without their input.
Adding nuclear reactors to that mix introduces a new set of concerns. Small modular reactors and microreactors are promoted by their developers as safer, more flexible, and easier to site than traditional large-scale nuclear plants. Yet they remain largely unproven at commercial scale, and the prospect of hundreds of them clustered on public land is likely to raise questions about accident risk, emergency planning, and long-term waste management. The inclusion of an on-site nuclear waste storage facility in Valar's proposal is particularly notable, given that the United States still lacks a permanent national repository for spent nuclear fuel.
The project also intersects with broader debates about the role of nuclear power in meeting the soaring electricity demands of artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Data center operators are increasingly signing agreements with nuclear developers, betting that atomic energy can provide reliable, carbon-free power around the clock. But those deals have mostly involved existing plants or a handful of planned reactors, not the hundreds contemplated under Project Beehive.
For Valar Atomics, the venture is a bold bet on both nuclear energy and the data center boom. The company's founder has publicly embraced an unabashedly pro-nuclear message, and Project Beehive appears designed to capitalize on federal and state interest in expanding domestic energy production. Still, the proposal faces substantial practical and political obstacles, from licensing and safety reviews to local opposition and the sheer logistical challenge of building hundreds of reactors on a single site.
Federal regulators would need to approve the reactor designs, the fuel facility, and the waste storage plans before any nuclear construction could proceed. Each of those approvals typically involves extensive environmental review and public comment periods, processes that can take years. Even if the company secures the necessary permits, financing a project of this magnitude would require billions of dollars and partners that have not yet been identified in the documents reviewed by NPR.
Local reaction is likely to intensify as more details emerge. Residents near Price and across Utah may find themselves weighing the promise of jobs, tax revenue, and energy independence against concerns about safety, land use, and the transformation of rural landscapes into industrial energy campuses. The state's elected officials, who have generally been supportive of both nuclear power and data center development, may face pressure to clarify their positions as the project moves forward.
For now, Project Beehive remains a proposal rather than a certainty. But its scale alone ensures it will become a focal point in the national conversation about how far the country is willing to go to power the next generation of computing, and whether public lands should play a central role in that effort. The coming months will reveal whether Valar Atomics can convert its vision into reality, or whether the project joins the long list of ambitious nuclear proposals that never broke ground.
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