Deep Fission, which aims to place small modular reactors in boreholes a mile underground, says it has identified three initial potential project sites - in Texas, Utah and Kansas. California-based nuclear startup company Deep Fission announced its emergence from stealth mode in August 2024. It aims to locate 15 MWe pressurised water reactors about one mile (1.6 km) underground in a 30-inch borehole. Deep Fission is one of the 11 companies selected by the US Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Programme, which aims to see at least three of them achieve criticality by August 2026. Meanwhile Deep Isolation, which like Deep Fission was co-founded by Elizabeth Muller and Richard A Muller, has announced a technology licensing agreement with Navarro Research and Engineering, Inc.