By Morgan Chilson
TOPEKA — A company building an underground nuclear reactor in Parsons is planning an initial public offering of 2.5 million shares, planning to raise more than $40 million.
Deep Fission Inc. initially announced in May that it would issue about 6 million shares, with a target price of $24 to $26. However, in registration information filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company dropped the number of shares it is offering and the expected price range to $16 to $18 per share.
California-based Deep Fission, which partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy to build its Gravity Reactor in boreholes one mile underground in the Great Plains Industrial Park, plans to raise more than $40 million to fund its pilot project in Kansas.
The company applied to list its common stock on Nasdaq under the symbol FISN, according to an SEC filing. The common stock offering will not continue if Nasdaq doesn’t approve the listing.
“Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk,” the filing said. “Our Gravity Reactor is unproven, and our design, borehole development activities, planned pilot reactor, and future commercial applications may fail, progress more slowly than projected, or encounter delays or changes that increase costs and capital requirements.”
In its filing, Deep Fission said it has drilled its first well to gather data.
“Next, we will demonstrate our ability to drill a commercial-scale borehole and safely deploy a prototype reactor,” the company said. “We continue to advance our reactor design in parallel with these activities, including planning additional drilling activities and conducting related engineering and emplacement work, and we are targeting completion of these activities in the coming months.”
The company expects to apply for its commercial license with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in early 2027, the filing said.
The project has faced controversy in the Parsons community, with some in the area worried about the untested technology involved.
Fran Tompkins, a Kansas activist following the issue, said people in the area don’t want to be “lab rats.” Although Deep Fission has said it is using tested technology because the deep boreholes have been used in water well drilling, Tompkins is concerned it has never been used for nuclear energy.
“The tech hasn’t been proven to be appropriate even for use in this way,” she said. “There’s no evidence-based practice out there to rely on.”
