The rule expedites adjudicatory hearings on most license applications, including those involving new reactors and license renewals.
The details: A presentation at the meeting outlined many of the major changes intended to streamline hearings.
With regard to standings and contentions:
- A standing would be addressed separately from any contentions and on an accelerated timeline.
- The contention filing schedule would depend on the complexity of the application; while a 60-day timeline would be provided for complex applications, a quicker deadline would be provided for simpler applications.
- Contention admissibility requirements would be refined.
- A decision from the ASLB would be issued within four months of the hearing notice.
In efforts to accelerate evidentiary hearings if a contention is admitted, proposed changes would come to initial filings on contentions that require additional merits information. This includes calling for litigants to provide supporting documents in ADAMS—the NRC’s searchable public documents database—including expert declarations.
With regard to evidentiary hearings:
- A hearing may be held as soon as practicable after a contention is admitted to hopefully eliminate the hearing’s intermediate phase (the time between admitting a contention and starting the evidentiary process).
- The ASLB has the discretion to tailor procedures based on the nature of the contention.
- While an evidentiary hearing under these changes would take four to five months for most, in some cases the process may be faster.
The process regarding later-filed contentions would be overhauled as well:
- These contentions would follow accelerated schedules if they were filed after the initial deadline.
- Filing a contention would not prevent a decision on licensing in a case where a prior hearing is required.
- The proposed rule would set a standard time for applying the reopening-the-record standard to later-filed contentions.
The savings: With these and other changes mentioned, NRC staff said that at least six weeks would be shaved off the hearing request contention period, going from five-and-a-half months to four months or less. With the elimination of the intermediate phase saving a year or more, the shrinking of the evidentiary hearing phase from nine months to four or five, and the shortening of the total time from notice to decision, this streamlining proposal would save about $9 million annually.
“We’re trying—and aiming—to make hearings more efficient,” said senior attorney Michael Spencer.
The comment period on this proposed rule closes on April 2. Comments can be submitted at regulations.gov, referencing Docket ID NRC-2025-1501. Additional information can be found in the Federal Register notice.
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