The environmental group San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper was granted a petition to intervene in January in LME’s application for the proposed Long Mott Generating Station (LMGS), which would house four of X-energy’s Xe-100 80-MWe high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors.
The application: In 2023, Dow announced a joint agreement with X-energy to develop the LMGS, with support from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. If built, the station is expected to be the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial site in North America.
LME submitted its construction permit application for the LMGS to the NRC in March 2025. That June, the NRC published an opportunity to request a hearing and petition for leave to intervene in the Federal Register. The ASLB granted Waterkeeper’s petition to intervene on January 22.
According to the NRC’s website, the agency expects to complete its environmental and safety reviews for the construction permit application by June and November, respectively.
The petition: In petitioning to intervene, Waterkeeper originally presented four contentions against the permit application. The ASLB dismissed two of the contentions. One of the dismissed contentions claimed that the Xe-100 design fails to meet regulatory requirements for functional containment. The other claimed that LME has understated the environmental effects of the proposed plant. A third contention, also centered on the Xe-100 containment, was subsequently withdrawn by Waterkeeper.
The ASLB, however, did allow a contention by Waterkeeper that claims LME has failed to demonstrate its financial qualifications to build and operate the LMGS. According to Waterkeeper, financial concerns surrounding the project were magnified in January when Dow announced it would be cutting 4,500 jobs.
Hearing details: Oral arguments are scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. (EST) on Thursday, February 26.
The proceeding will be held virtually and will be open to the public via a listen-only telephone line by dialing 301/576-2978 and entering passcode 262 891 871#.
The ASLB is composed of three administrative judges from the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel. Boards conduct adjudicatory hearings on NRC licensing and enforcement actions, and they are independent of the NRC staff. A board’s rulings may be appealed to the NRC commissioners.
-3 2x1.jpg)
