One of the problems with conventional nuclear power plants is that they rely on an extremely hazardous fuel which persists for thousands of years. What if we could engineer a reliable and simple technique for dealing with these nuclear power hazards? By using a radically different engineering approach, a Californian-based startup, Deep Fission Inc., say they have.

To manage hazards, every good engineer and risk manager knows about the hierarchy of hazard control. At the top is “elimination”...