Deep Fission, a reactor developer participating in the Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program, has signed a master energy purchase agreement with the Great Plains Development Authority in Kansas, ANS Nuclear Newswire reported on October 28.
The authority is a municipal body created by the Labette County Commission to manage the 30-square-mile Great Plains Industrial Park in Parsons, which targets research, manufacturing, data center and energy projects. Deep Fission has sited its pilot project at the park. The two parties signed a letter of intent in December 2025, and the new agreement converts it into a binding contract. Under the terms, Deep Fission commits to pursue a commercial project and supply power to the authority.
The initial target is 150 megawatts by 2028, and later phases could expand the site to 2,000 megawatts depending on demand.
Deep Fission is developing a small pressurized water reactor placed in a borehole roughly a mile underground. The company says the approach can lower costs and speed deployment. The first reactor is targeted at up to about 8 megawatts electric, with follow-on units of up to 15 megawatts electric, though the specifications have changed several times.
The company was one of 10 selected for the DOE pilot program in August 2025. It held a groundbreaking in Parsons and signed an other transaction agreement with DOE in December 2025, then received approval of its nuclear safety design agreement in August 2026. Three milestones remain: the preliminary design safety agreement, the design safety agreement and a final readiness review.
Unlike several other pilot participants that plan separate follow-on reactors, Deep Fission intends for its pilot unit to become a commercially operating plant licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is in preapplication discussions with the company.
Source: ANS Nuclear Newswire -- https://www.ans.org/news/2026-10-28/article-8524/deep-fission-signs-kansas-power-agreement-following-market-woes/