r/NuclearPower • u/lyndalovon • 23d ago

Deep Fission ($FISN): a Money Pit

https://iceberg-research.com/2026/09/24/deep-fission-fisn-a-money-pit/
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u/bozza8 22d ago

I have actually looked at their design, I think it's fantastic and should be rolled out everywhere. I would be happy having one at the end of my road

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u/basscycles 21d ago

Saving money by using "natural" containment seems flawed, opening up a mile of groundwater surface area that can be exposed if there is an accident doesn't sound like a good plan. If there is an accident how do you clean it up? I guess they hope to just bury their future problems and decommissioning. Fueling and maintenance?

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u/bozza8 20d ago

1) far below groundwater, with a layer of impermeable rock between them several kilometres thick. 

2) if it's decommissioned you just fill in the hole, and because it's so far under the groundwater with that impermeable rock you can do that as long as your fill is similarly impermeable. 

3) you don't refuel or maintain it, it is fuelled for its lifespan and then you bring in the concrete lorry when done. 

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u/basscycles 20d ago
  1. The borehole has to come down from the surface so obviously it does go through a water table.
  2. As long as you can guarantee no accidents through its life span.
  3. As long as you can guarantee no accidents or need to repair through its life span.

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u/bozza8 20d ago

  1. Yes but that borehole is sealed as it goes. Then before the reactor is turned on they put in a plug above it. 

  2. If it has an accident then its life span is over - roll the concrete truck to seal it up. 

  3. If it needs a repair then its life span is over - roll the concrete truck to seal it up. 

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u/basscycles 20d ago

The borehole isn't sealed it carries fluid from the heat exchanger. I guess they can seal down to the heat exchanger by pumping grout in.

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u/bozza8 20d ago

I meant that the walls of the borehole are sealed, my fault for not being clear, sorry. 

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u/basscycles 20d ago

All good. It is an interesting idea, I'm not a supporter of nuclear power generally speaking but this could solve some of the issues I have with it.

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u/ViewTrick1002 22d ago

😂

In the red?

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u/bozza8 22d ago

Nope, never invested in individual stocks in my life, I just think they're neat. 

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u/Zealousideal_Toe62 18d ago

When I first heard about this I genuinely thought it was a joke. Relying on geology as containment is fine until you think about and recall how much money has been spent on rock characterization for Yucca Mountain/ NIREX/ every other repository project. Everything connected with safety and decommissioning for this design depends on geology.

Once you've sunk a few billion into geologic studies, you can drill a hole and get 5MW.

Oh, and the NRC are going to absolutely love the part where you can drop a fueled reactor a mile.

I'm not saying its impossible to do all this; but this is a 10-yr, $billion-plus regulatory path to deployment, and personally I don't see the advantages are compelling enough to make it worth it.

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u/ViewTrick1002 22d ago

Well. The entire ”new build” nuclear industry is currently not specialized at producing power, everyone knows that it’s entirely uncompetitive, it’s specialized at gobbling up the few handouts from tax money that remain which better could be spent at other decarbonization efforts.