The potential new nuclear site at Belews Creek in Stokes Country, N.C. (Photo: Duke Energy)
An opportunity to request an adjudicatory hearing for Duke Energy Carolinas’ early site permit (ESP) application for the Belews Creek site in Stokes County, N.C., has been announced by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The notice of the opportunity was published February 9 in the Federal Register. The deadline to file a request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene is April 10, 2026.
Duke Energy Carolinas submitted its ESP application on December 30, 2025, for the 1,000-acre Belews Creek site, which is next to an existing coal and natural gas power plant. The application contains six potential reactor technologies, “including four small modular reactor designs and two non–light-water designs.” The applied-for permit encompasses a maximum output of 2,250 MW for the reactors.
Duke Energy is planning to have 600 MW of new nuclear power on line at the Belews Creek site by 2037, with the first reactor coming on line by 2036.
Uncontested or contested: The NRC notice states that an uncontested hearing will be held regarding the ESP application at a time and place to be set in the future. The notice also provides the public with an opportunity to request a hearing and petition for leave to intervene with respect to the application (in a contested hearing).
If the NRC decides to issue the ESP, Duke Energy will be approved to use the Belews Creek site for a nuclear power facility “independent of a specific nuclear plant design or an application for a construction permit or combined license.”
Although an ESP resolves certain issues of site safety, environmental protection, and emergency preparedness, it does not itself allow for nuclear power plant construction or operation. Therefore, Duke Energy would have to apply separately for a construction permit and operating license or a combined operating license in the future.
More info: Any potential intervenor seeking access to sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI) to respond to the NRC notice must request document access by February 19, 2026.
Additional information about the NRC notice can be obtained via the federal rulemaking website (Docket ID NRC-2025-2161) or by contacting Emmanuel Sayoc of the NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation via email.
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