Two companies have recently revealed plans to potentially install nuclear reactors in Kansas.
One plan comes from a company that proposes putting small reactors 1 mile underground to directly power facilities such as data centers. The other comes from a company envisioning a utility-scale plant with a battery design that makes it capable of storing power.
The two proposals are strikingly different, but both are part of the race to open a new chapter in the history of U.S. nuclear energy that will look very unlike past nuclear power plants.
Companies that are reimagining the nuclear sector want to roll out a variety of advanced, modular or small reactor designs to overcome challenges with traditional plants.
Here are some basics about the two recent proposals for nuclear reactors in Kansas.
The companies behind the proposals are TerraPower and Deep Fission.
TerraPower was co-founded by Bill Gates, the former CEO of Microsoft in 2008. Although a number of companies are in various stages of pursuing advanced nuclear energy, TerraPower is one of the leaders in the push to bring these ideas to fruition in the U.S.
The company recently broke ground on a $4 billion nuclear facility in Wyoming as a demonstration project cofunded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The company is interested in starting work on another facility in Kansas.
Deep Fission was founded in 2023 by a father-daughter team, entrepreneur Liz Muller and retired Berkeley physics professor Richard Muller. Its advisory board includes big names in the field of physics, including two Nobel laureates.
The company wants its first sites to be in Kansas, Utah and Texas. It went public last month and raised $30 million, prompting TechCrunch to write that fundraising was not coming easy.
TerraPower is working with Evergy and state officials to explore the prospects for building a nuclear plant.
TerraPower has signed a memorandum of understanding with Evergy and the Kansas Department of Commerce.
In an interview, an official with the state commerce department said TerraPower is looking for somewhere in Kansas with stable geology, proximity to transmission lines and the necessary workforce. The official said TerraPower also wants to find a community where its nuclear facility would be welcomed.
Since it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Evergy to consider siting within the utility’s Kansas service area, that would mean the company is looking at eastern or central Kansas.
Evergy currently operates one traditional nuclear plant, Wolf Creek Generating Station, about 60 miles south of Topeka.
TerraPower’s plant differs greatly from traditional nuclear power plants.
TerraPower would envelop the uranium in liquid sodium instead of water. This has a boiling point of 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit – much higher than water, which the company says adds extra safety.
The company says its design produces less waste than traditional nuclear plants, too.
TerraPower’s plant would also be able to store energy for use when needed. A traditional nuclear power plant cannot do that.
This battery function would make it possible to increase the plant’s output when demand peaks, for example, or to decrease the output on a windy day when wind farms are churning out plenty of power.
Deep Fission sees data centers and other electricity-hungry industries as its potential customers.
The other company, Deep Fission, aims to tap straight into the growing AI sector because data centers consume so much electricity.
It sees tech companies as potential customers, and says it could provide them with on-site power by drilling 30-inch bore holes 1 mile deep and putting nuclear reactors at the bottom of each hole.
The company says such deep placement contributes to the safety of nuclear energy because the earth provides billions of tons of natural shielding.
Deep Fission is working with an undisclosed partner on a site in Kansas.
The company recently signed a letter of intent with an undisclosed partner for an undisclosed site in Kansas.
The company hasn’t answered questions about whether it has informed state or local government agencies about its intention to install an underground nuclear reactor in Kansas. State officials also haven’t revealed whether they know anything about Deep Fission’s plan.
A presidential pilot program recently sped up Deep Fission’s timeline
Deep Fission was one of 11 projects picked in August for President Donald Trump’s nuclear pilot program. The program seeks to expedite their testing and eventually their commercial licensing.
The Trump announcement came with an aggressive timeline that aims to get some reactors operating at a state of steady fission by the next Fourth of July. Before that announcement, Deep Fission was aiming for 2029.
Deep Fission is aiming to meet the president’s Fourth of July goal, but it isn’t saying whether it will move that fast specifically in Kansas or at one of its other potential sites, which are in Utah and Texas.
Celia Llopis-Jepsen is the environment reporter for the Kansas News Service and host of the environmental podcast Up From Dust. You can follow her on Bluesky or email her at celia (at) kcur (dot) org.
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