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Valar Atomics Emerges from Stealth with $19 Million in Funding and a Pilot Reactor Site
In a bold move, startup Valar Atomics has emerged from stealth mode, announcing $19 million in funding and the development of a pilot reactor site. The company’s ambitious plan is to make nuclear energy more accessible and affordable by building smaller, modular reactors that can be constructed quickly and cheaply.
Co-founder Taylor, who dropped out of high school at 16 but went on to study software systems and found startups, emphasized the importance of reducing costs. “We’re not going to make these reactors expensive,” he said. “We’ll make them cheap, and we’ll make the process cheap, too.”
The startup’s technical efforts are led by its chief nuclear officer, Mark Mitchell, a former president of modular reactor firm Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) and leader of the world’s first small modular reactor project at South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor.
Valar Atomics’ strategy is not without precedent. In 1943, the first nuclear reactor was built in just eight months. Taylor believes that by leveraging software-driven design and construction methods, his company can replicate this success.
The company has also attracted talent from USNC, including head of mechanical engineering Willem van Rooyen.
Valar Atomics’ move comes at a time when there is growing interest in nuclear energy as a clean alternative to fossil fuels. The U.S.’s Inflation Reduction Act has unlocked private investment into clean energy infrastructure, while China is investing $440 billion in new nuclear plants. Additionally, 14 of the world’s largest banks have expressed support for tripling nuclear energy by 2050.
The startup aims to make a significant impact on the climate crisis by offering a more cost-effective and efficient way of generating clean energy.
Source: techcrunch.com
