US-based start-up Deep Fission has gone public through a reverse merger transaction with Surfside Acquisition raising $30m through a private placement offering. Surfside Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company, has merged with the company to form a new entity that will retain the name Deep Fission.
The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that Deep Fission was selected to participate in President Trump’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program. This provides an opportunity to streamline a pilot reactor, targeting criticality by 4 July 2026, with expected rapid commercialisation to follow.
Deep Fission, founded in 2023 by father-daughter team Elizabeth and Richard Muller, is developing a project using standardised pressurised water reactor (PWR) technology for a modular nuclear microreactor (15 MWe) that can be installed at a depth of one mile in a 30-inch borehole.
“This is a unique moment for the nuclear industry,” said Liz Muller, Co-Founder & CEO of Deep Fission. “Deep Fission has the right technology, at the right time, and in the right place. With this funding, we can begin building our pilot reactor, with the goal of completion in 2026. We believe we can scale our technology rapidly and profitably to address the massive energy demand from AI data centres and other customers around the world.”
Deep Fission’s design combines proven methods from the nuclear, oil and gas, and geothermal industries, using off-the-shelf components and low-enriched uranium (LEU) to simplify supply chains. By siting the reactor one mile underground, the surrounding geology offers natural shielding and protection with billions of tons of bedrock providing passive safety and containment. The approach reduces the surface footprint, strengthens security, and is designed to enable a faster, more affordable path to deployment. The Company is targeting a levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) of 5-7 cents per kWh.
The Company currently has 24 pending patent applications with 1 US application allowed and over 40 unique innovations.
