A nuclear reactor 1.6 km deep: The American town that became a testing ground
The startup Deep Fission is promoting a first-of-its-kind experiment to build a nuclear reactor underground, aiming to generate electricity without the familiar massive concrete complexes. Supporters see an energy revolution, while opponents warn: "We are guinea pigs."
Residents of the town of Parsons, Kansas, are currently at the center of an unusual nuclear experiment: the construction of a small reactor at a depth of about 1.6 kilometers underground. Behind the project is the American startup Deep Fission, which seeks to replace the massive concrete structures of traditional reactors with the rock layers themselves, and to generate electricity using water heated deep in the earth.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the company completed its first test drilling in the spring on a site of about 100 acres in an old industrial park outside the town. Two more drillings are planned later this year, with the third intended to house a container containing nuclear fuel. The goal is to start generating electricity as early as 2027 or 2028 — an extremely fast timeline compared to other nuclear projects.
The idea is based on using the depth of the ground for pressure, cooling, and insulation. Instead of surrounding the reactor with a thick concrete shell, the company seeks to place it at a depth where the rock layers are supposed to provide natural protection. The water heated underground will be piped to turbines placed on the surface to generate electricity.
Each reactor is designed to produce about 15 megawatts, an amount sufficient for about 12,000 households. The company is already examining the possibility of establishing an array of more than a hundred reactors, which could provide more than one gigawatt for data centers, factories, and industrial infrastructure.
Commercial operation of the facility will still require obtaining a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The project is included in a pilot program of the U.S. Department of Energy for the development and testing of small and advanced reactors, as part of the Donald Trump administration's policy to expand nuclear power generation.
The administration seeks to quadruple nuclear power output in the United States by 2050, partly due to the increase in energy demand from artificial intelligence data centers. The Deep Fission project is one of 11 projects selected for the program.
The company was founded three years ago by Liz Muller and her father, Richard Muller, a professor emeritus of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. In the last year, the company raised about $150 million, of which $40 million was in an initial offering held last month.
The company claims that placing the reactor at a great depth may lower construction costs, reduce the facility's footprint, and decrease environmental risk. According to Muller, the reactor will be located deep below the groundwater layers and therefore is not expected to affect them. Each reactor is designed to operate for six to seven years, after which the spent fuel can be stored underground or transferred to another site.
However, the technology raises many questions, including regarding maintenance at such a depth, the handling of nuclear waste, and the consequences in the event that the company ceases operations. Environmental organizations are demanding that the project undergo a full environmental review and not receive regulatory relief.
In Parsons, opinions are also divided. Some residents fear that the town is being used as a "guinea pig" for technology that has not yet been tested on a commercial scale, especially after it emerged that the project was initially approved without a public hearing. Other residents and elected officials see it as an opportunity to attract factories, data centers, and jobs.
The local debate is expected to accompany the project in the coming stages as well. Its success could prove that small nuclear reactors do not have to be built inside giant complexes, but can operate deep underground. Its failure, on the other hand, could turn Parsons into an example of the risks involved in trying to accelerate the next generation of nuclear energy.
