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A proposed data center campus in Carbon County, Utah, backed by nuclear startup Valar, is drawing concern from residents over nuclear safety, water use, heat and transparency. The project’s details and approvals remain uncertain; a separate, larger gas-powered data center proposal is also being discussed in the area.
Residents of Carbon County, Utah, are questioning a proposed data center campus powered by small modular nuclear reactors from startup Valar, citing nuclear history, water constraints, potential heat and a lack of public information. The proposal is part of a broader push to attract large data-center developments as the county confronts the decline of its coal industry, but the reactors have not yet been deployed commercially in the United States.
At a recent Utah Trust Lands Administration meeting, board chair Mike Nelson acknowledged uncertainty around the arrangement with Valar, saying officials were still learning what questions to ask about the project. His comments reflect the novelty of the proposed technology, not a finding that the project has been approved or that its safety has been established.
Some local opposition is rooted in the region’s experience with nuclear testing. Resident Lupo told Canary Media she believes radioactive fallout from U.S. weapons testing in nearby Nevada in the 1950s contributed to the deaths of her mother and grandfather. Those are her beliefs about her family’s deaths; the source report does not establish a medical or causal finding. Lupo said she would never support nuclear power.
Water and heat are also concerns in the area. Valar says its reactors would use a closed-loop helium cooling system requiring little water, while data-center developers have said they intend to use closed-loop systems with low water demand. Utah State University physics professor Robert Davies told Canary Media that nuclear plants can produce more heat than natural-gas plants because they are less efficient. The proposed site is in a valley, where, Davies said, heat could become concentrated.
Coal Decline Shapes County Debate
The dispute puts Carbon County’s economic needs alongside residents’ concerns about the environmental and public-health effects of new energy infrastructure. In a July 3 statement, the county said coal’s decline has shifted more of the property-tax burden onto homeowners and remaining businesses. County commissioners support data centers in part because they could add revenue to local tax rolls.
The projects could also affect people beyond the companies building them. Utah’s 2025 law, SB 132, allows private companies with energy demands of at least 100 megawatts to build self-contained power stations. The policy is intended to support business development without burdening the grid used by other customers, but the resulting proposals raise local questions about emissions, land, water and who will bear the impacts. The report does not establish what taxes, jobs or other benefits the Valar project would deliver.
Those questions are particularly pressing in a water-strapped region where residents say available supplies are already spoken for. Developers’ claims of low water use address one part of the concern, but do not settle questions about total demand, heat effects or the project’s long-term footprint.
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Two Large Projects Under Discussion
Valar’s nuclear proposal is not the only data-center plan in Carbon County. Altigen, a company that builds natural-gas power plants for data centers, has selected an area east of Wellington for a project called Jurassic Spark. Local Community Economic Development Board meeting minutes describe it as a 1,200-acre campus, nearly twice the size of the Valar site.
According to local economic development official Jensen, Altigen’s plans call for an initial 250-megawatt gas plant, with potential generation of up to 3 gigawatts. The comparison offered in the source report is that Utah as a whole uses about 4 gigawatts of electricity. These are plans, not confirmed operating capacity; Altigen did not respond to Canary Media’s request for comment.
Carbon County defended the use of nondisclosure agreements in its July 3 statement, saying some companies would not consider projects in the county without them. The statement did not make clear whether the county had such agreements with Valar or Altigen. Former county planning commission and economic development board member Oran Stainbrook told Canary Media he knew of agreements from his time in those roles but was not aware of any involving the data-center proposals.
“We weren’t always sure what to ask about, and probably still aren’t sure of everything to ask about because this is a first, right?”
— Mike Nelson, chair of the Utah Trust Lands Administration board
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Project Details Still Unsettled
The source report does not establish whether Valar’s project has received final approvals, when construction might begin, or how many reactors or how much generating capacity it would include. The reactors’ commercial performance and the project’s specific environmental effects are also not established. Valar’s statements about low water demand describe its proposed cooling approach, but the report does not provide a project-level water-use estimate.
It is also unclear whether Carbon County has nondisclosure agreements with Valar or Altigen, what information has been shared with residents, and what specific tax revenues or jobs either proposal could produce. Altigen did not respond to the report’s request for comment. Residents’ concerns about health and environmental effects remain concerns, rather than confirmed findings about these proposed sites.
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Public Scrutiny and Approvals Ahead
The proposals’ next steps depend on project development and the relevant local and state review processes. Residents and officials will need more specific information to evaluate site plans, power capacity, cooling and water needs, emissions, heat effects, construction timing and expected community benefits. The source report does not identify a confirmed approval schedule or a date for a decision on Valar’s proposal.
Further public discussion may also clarify whether confidentiality agreements apply to either project and what information can be disclosed. Until project plans and approvals become clearer, the nuclear campus remains a proposal under debate, while the larger Altigen development is a separate plan whose ultimate scale and status are also uncertain.
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Key Questions
What is Valar proposing in Carbon County?
Valar is proposing a data-center campus powered by small modular nuclear reactors. The source report does not specify the project’s final capacity, construction schedule or approval status.
Are small modular reactors already operating commercially in the United States?
The source report says small modular reactors have not yet been deployed for commercial use in the United States. That is part of why local officials have acknowledged unfamiliarity with the proposal.
Why are Carbon County residents concerned?
Residents have raised concerns about nuclear safety and the region’s testing history, as well as water availability, heat and the amount of information being shared with the public. These concerns do not establish that the proposed project would cause specific harms.
Is there another data-center proposal in the county?
Yes. Altigen has selected a site east of Wellington for the proposed Jurassic Spark campus. Meeting minutes describe a 1,200-acre project with an initial planned 250-megawatt gas plant and potential generation of up to 3 gigawatts, according to local official Jensen.
Has Carbon County approved the Valar project?
The source report does not confirm final approval. The proposal’s approval status and timeline remain unclear, along with its detailed capacity, water use and expected local benefits.
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