PARSONS — The makers of a planned mile-deep nuclear reactor will host a public meeting for Parsons and Labette County residents Wednesday, March 12.
The meeting is the first such public gathering since Deep Fission, Inc. broke ground in December, which would be the first of its kind in the world, The Parsons Sun reported.
Community members are invited to attend to learn more about the project, ask questions and meet members of the Deep Fission team.
Those who are unable to attend in person may submit questions or comments through the Deep Fission community page online at deepfission.com/community.
The reactor will be placed at the bottom of a mile-deep borehole.
The hole will be sealed and filled with water, which will become steam when exposed to the reactor to turn steam generators. The water cools and recycles through teh system once again.
The reactor is expected to generate enough electricity to power around 10,000 homes and last from two to seven years.
Once spent, the reactors would either be removed and sent to a waste facility or sealed off in the borehole, and another reactor placed on top of the old one.
SINCE THE Dec. 4 groundbreaking, an anti-nuclear activist group, the Prairie Dog Alliance was formed locally, the Parsons Sun reported.
Montgomery County resident Marjorie Reynolds has since then attended multiple Labette County Commission and Great Plains Development Authority meetings to express concerns.
Reynolds has repeatedly questioned local governing bodies about what research they’ve done individually, outside of speaking with Deep Fission, the newspaper reported.
Company officials have repeatedly vouched for the safety of such a system, noting at a mile deep, the record is well below the deepest groundwater systems. If the spent reactor cannot be removed, it is sealed off, and effectively shielded from the rest of the environment through solid rock.
DEEP FISSION is one of 11 nuclear projects selected by the Department of Energy in the pilot program. The goal is for three of these projects to achieve criticality before the nation’s 250th birthday, a timeline that resulted from President Trump’s Executive Order 14301. According to the Department of Energy, the program will “expedite the testing of advanced reactor designs” and “provide a fast-tracked approach to future commercial licensing activities.” Each company is responsible for project costs.
WEDNESDAY’S meeting will run from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Wall Family Center, 2605 Main St. in Parsons.
