# A nuclear startup and Nvidia are betting AI data centers do not have to guzzle water

> Data center water and power use has become one of the most visceral public objections to the AI boom, and this is a concrete attempt to defuse that fight rather than just talk about it. A 30 megawatt reactor is tiny compared to the multi gigawatt campuses OpenAI and Meta are chasing, but the pairing of small modular nuclear with genuinely water light cooling is the template regulators and skeptical communities will actually judge. The real test is the 18 month Nuclear Regulatory Commission review, not the press release.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: Deseret News · Published Sunday, July 5, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Data center water and power use has become one of the most visceral public objections to the AI boom, and this is a concrete attempt to defuse that fight rather than just talk about it. A 30 megawatt reactor is tiny compared to the multi gigawatt campuses OpenAI and Meta are chasing, but the pairing of small modular nuclear with genuinely water light cooling is the template regulators and skeptical communities will actually judge. The real test is the 18 month Nuclear Regulatory Commission review, not the press release.

## Source

[Read the full story at Deseret News](https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2026/07/01/valar-atomics-nvidia-milestone/)

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