Concept art of the Dow plant in Seadrift, Texas. (Source: X-energy)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is providing the opportunity to request a hearing on Dow Chemical Company’s application to construct a 320-MWe nuclear power plant at the company’s Seadrift site in Calhoun, Texas. Long Mott Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical, submitted its construction permit application to the NRC in March. It was accepted for review by the agency on May 12.
If built, Long Mott Generating Station would house four of X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors, which would provide process heat and electricity to Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations manufacturing site. Dow and X-energy announced in 2023 a joint agreement to develop Long Mott Generating Station, with support from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
The opportunity to request a hearing and petition for leave to intervene was published in the June 10 Federal Register.
The deadline: Petitions to intervene in a hearing must be filed by August 11 by anyone whose interest may be affected by the proposed construction permit and who wants to participate as a party in the proceeding. Additional information on the hearing process and new reactor licensing is available on the NRC website.
The NRC said it is also providing notice that an uncontested hearing will be held on the construction permit application at a time and place to be set in the future by the presiding officer for the uncontested hearing.
The application: Long Mott Energy’s 10 CFR Part 50 construction permit application includes a preliminary safety analysis report and environmental report for the power plant.
The application incorporates new technology-inclusive guidance issued by the NRC under 10 CFR Part 53, a significantly revamped section of the Code of Federal Regulations that has been under development for several years and aims to streamline the review process for non–light water reactor applicants.
According to the NRC’s permit application review schedule, the agency expects to issue an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact by June 2026. The final safety review is scheduled to be completed by November 2026.
The construction permit, if approved, would not authorize the operation of the units. Long Mott Energy will have to submit a separate application for operating licenses in the future.
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