Parsons, Kansas, will be the site of a California startup’s first ever 1-mile-deep nuclear reactor — with support from county commissioners, both Republican Kansas U.S. senators and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration.
Deep Fission will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking on Tuesday at Great Plains Industrial Park. Company leaders hope to receive U.S. Department of Energy authorization and get its nuclear reactor up and running by next Fourth of July.
The company is part of a presidential pilot program that aims to demonstrate new reactors by then. After that, Deep Fission hopes to pursue commercial operations.
“The industrial park is looking to bring in, to attract industry and possibly data centers or other large uses of electricity,” Deep Fission CEO Liz Muller said in an interview with the Kansas News Service. “But in order to attract them, it needs to have a source of electricity.”
Deep Fission is an advanced nuclear company founded in 2023 that promises to place small nuclear reactors at the bottom of 30-inch wide, mile-deep boreholes.
In Kansas, a standard nuclear power plant proposal from an electricity company would need to pass through the agency that regulates utilities – the Kansas Corporation Commission – for a siting permit and public hearings, among other steps. However, the KCC said it doesn’t have enough information yet to know the full extent of its jurisdiction over Deep Fission’s project. For example, it remains to be seen whether the company will fall under laws that apply to electric utilities.
“The nature of Deep Fission’s operations will determine whether it qualifies as an electric utility,” the Kansas Corporation Commission said in a recent email.
Deep Fission’s letter of intent with the industrial park ultimately envisions a full-scale commercial project.
Parsons offers the opportunity to “potentially grow with the Park for decades to come,” the company said in a press release.
This would mean installing more nuclear reactors over the years, since Deep Fission designs its reactors to generate power for two to seven years.
Muller said the design is safe.
“All of the radioactivity stays at the bottom of the borehole a mile underground,” she said. “The only thing that is coming up through the borehole is clean, fresh water. We feel really good about our ability to protect both humans and the environment.”
That water comes up in the form of steam for turning a turbine to generate electricity, then cools and goes back down into the borehole.
Elected officials welcome Deep Fission to Parsons
Parsons, a city near the Oklahoma and Missouri borders, has a population of about 10,000. The Great Plains Industrial Park on the east side of Parsons covers 14,000 acres and is the former site of the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant.
Deep Fission’s press release includes enthusiastic quotes from a host of local, state and congressional voices.
“Kansas has long been a leader in energy production, and we’re continuing to diversify our portfolio with innovative technologies such as advanced nuclear,” Kansas Lt. Gov. and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said.
Toland said the Kansas Department of Commerce “will support (Deep Fission’s) efforts to integrate a thoughtful and transparent community engagement process that gives local residents clear avenues to ask questions and be part of the conversation.”
