ML25240B507

Memorandum and Order (Initial Prehearing Order)

ML25240B507
Person / Time
Site:	05000614
Issue date:	08/28/2025
From:	Wolfe S Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
To:	Danni Smith, Nicholas Trikouros Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
SECY RAS
References
25-991-01-CP-BD01, RAS 57465, Long Mott Energy 50-614-CP
Download: ML25240B507 (0)

Text

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD PANEL Before Administrative Judges:

Stefan R. Wolfe, Chair Nicholas G. Trikouros Dr. David A. Smith In the Matter of LONG MOTT ENERGY, LLC (Long Mott Generating Station)

Docket No. 50-614-CP ASLBP No. 25-991-01-CP-BD01 August 28, 2025 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order)

This proceeding concerns a 10 C.F.R. Part 50 construction permit application filed by Long Mott Energy, LLC (LME) to build the Long Mott Generating Station (LMGS) in Calhoun County, Texas, consisting of four Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled power reactors.1 On June 10, 2025, the NRC published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the opportunity to request a hearing on the LME construction permit application.2 On August 11, 2025, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (Petitioner) filed a hearing request through the agencys 1 See Letter from Edward Stones, LME President, to Document Control Desk, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), at 2 (Mar. 31, 2025) (ADAMS Accession No. ML25090A058).

2 See [LME]; [LMGS]; Construction Permit Application, 90 Fed. Reg. 24,428 (June 10, 2025).

E-Filing system.3 On August 14, 2025, this Licensing Board was established to rule on standing and contention admissibility matters and to preside at any hearing.4 Additionally, on June 20, 2025, Petitioner requested access to certain Sensitive Unclassified Non-Safeguards Information (SUNSI) in the LME application.5 On June 30, 2025 the NRC Staff concluded there was an adequate basis for Petitioners access request,6 a determination that was not opposed by LME,7 and on July 22, 2025, the Chief Administrative Judge (CAJ) of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel issued a protective order granting access to SUNSI.8 On July 29, 2025, LME filed a notice stating that on that date it had timely provided access to the SUNSI specified in the protective order.9 I.

BRIEFING SCHEDULE Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(i), Answers by LME and the NRC Staff to Petitioners August 11, 2025 hearing request are due on or before Friday, September 5, 2025. Further, with the filing of Petitioners August 25, 2025 SUNSI-based contention contesting aspects of the 3 See [Petitioner]s Petition to Intervene and Request for Hearing (Aug. 11, 2025) [hereinafter Hearing Request].

4 See [LME], Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, 90 Fed. Reg. 40,398 (Aug.

19, 2025).

5 See Letter from Marisa Perales, Counsel for Petitioner, to Office of the Secretary, NRC, and Deputy General Counsel for Licensing, Hearings, and Enforcement, Office of the General Counsel, NRC, at 1 (June 20, 2025).

6 See Letter from Richard Rivera, Project Manager, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, NRC, to Marisa Perales, Counsel for Petitioner, at 4 (June 30, 2025).

7 See Joint Motion for Proposed Protective Order Governing Disclosure of [SUNSI] and Non-Disclosure Agreement (July 21, 2025) at 1.

8 See CAJ Memorandum and Order (Protective Order Governing Specific [SUNSI]) (July 22, 2025) (unpublished).

9 See [LME]s Notice of Provision of Access to Specific [SUNSI] (July 29, 2025).

LME application,10 Answers by LME and the NRC Staff are due on or before Friday, September 19, 2025.

Any Reply by Petitioner to any Answer to Petitioners August 11, 2025 hearing request or to Petitioners August 25, 2025 SUNSI-based contention is due seven days after the date on which such Answer is filed.

II.

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS A.

Notice of Appearance If they have not already done so, on or before Tuesday, September 2, 2025, each counsel or representative for each participant shall file a notice of appearance complying with the requirements of 10 C.F.R. § 2.314(b) via the agencys E-Filing system.11 In each notice of appearance, besides providing a business address and telephone number, an attorney or representative should provide an email address and a facsimile number (if any).

B.

Limitations on Pleading Length and Reply Pleadings

1.

Page Limitation Absent preapproval by the Board or some other Board directive, any motion filed after the date of this memorandum and order and any related responsive pleadings shall not exceed ten pages in length (including the signature page, but excluding the certificate of service and any attachments/enclosures).12 Any request for preapproval to exceed this page limitation shall 10 See [Petitioners] Supplement to its Petition to Intervene and Request for Hearing Based on

[SUNSI] (Aug. 25, 2025) (nonpublic).

11 For assistance with the NRCs E-Filing system, a participant can contact the Electronic Filing Helpdesk via its webpage (https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/contact-us-eie.html) or by calling (866) 6727640 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (excluding federal government holidays).

12 This page limit does not apply to (1) any Answers or Replies filed in accordance with Section I of this memorandum and order; or (2) any new SUNSI-based contentions filed by Petitioner per Section I of this memorandum and order. However, any subsequent motion for admission of a

be submitted via the E-Filing system no less than three business days prior to the time the motion or responsive pleading is filed or due to be filed. The request must (1) indicate (as is the case with any motion) whether the relief requested is opposed or supported by the other participants to the proceeding;13 (2) provide a good faith estimate of the number of additional pages that will be filed; and (3) demonstrate good cause for being permitted to exceed the page limitation.

2.

Reply Pleadings Except in instances involving a motion to file a new/amended contention, participants in this proceeding must request permission to file a reply to a response/answer to a motion.14 A request for Board preapproval to file a reply shall be submitted via the E-Filing system no less than three business days prior to the time the reply will be filed.15 A request to file a reply must (1) indicate whether the request is opposed or supported by the other participants to the new or amended contention under section 2.309(f)(2), and answers/replies to such a motion, are subject to this page limitation. Petitioner may not file new contentions separately to avoid this page limit but must instead seek leave of the Board to exceed the page limit.

13 See 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(b). Pursuant to section 2.323(b), a motion requires a certification by the attorney or representative for the moving participant/party that a sincere effort has been made to contact the other participants/parties in the proceeding and resolve the matters raised by the motion, but that the movants efforts in this regard have been unsuccessful. The Board notes that it is inconsistent with the dispute avoidance/resolution purposes of section 2.323(b) for counsel or the representative for the non-moving participant/party to fail to make a sincere effort to be available to consult regarding, or to fail to attempt in good faith to resolve, the factual and legal issues raised in the motion. Also, if the consultation mandated by section 2.323(b) is initiated within a reasonable time and the participants/parties believe that all or part of the matter may be resolved amicably if additional time is provided for filing the motion, the participants/parties are encouraged to file a joint motion requesting such a time extension.

14 Compare 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(c), with id. § 2.309(i)(2).

15 Although the agencys rules regarding motions practice do not provide for reply pleadings, the Board will presume that for a reply to be timely, it would have to be filed within seven days of the date of service of the answer it is intended to address. See 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(i)(2).

particular proceeding; and (2) demonstrate compelling circumstances exist for permitting the reply to be filed.16 C.

Motions for Extension of Time A motion for extension of time in this proceeding shall be submitted via the E-Filing system at least three business days before the due date for the pleading or other submission for which an extension is sought.17 A motion for extension of time must (1) indicate whether the request is opposed or supported by the other participants to the particular proceeding; and (2) demonstrate appropriate cause that supports permitting the extension.

D.

Opposing a Request to Exceed the Page Limitation, to File a Reply, or to Extend the Time for Filing a Pleading Any opposition to a request to exceed the page limit, to file a reply, or to extend the time for filing a pleading shall be submitted via the E-Filing system no later than the next business day after the filing of the request.

E.

Attachments/Enclosures to Filings and Evidentiary Exhibits For all future filings, if a participant proffers a pleading or other submission that has additional documents appended to it, these items should be referred to as attachments or 16 Section 2.323(c) indicates that compelling circumstances might be shown in an instance when the moving participant/party demonstrates that it could not reasonably have anticipated the arguments to which it seeks to reply.

17 Unless some other time is specified in the agencys rules of practice or by the Board, in accordance with 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(a)(2), (c), motions (other than summary disposition motions) are due within 10 days after the occurrence or circumstance from which the motion arises, with any answer to that motion due within 10 days of service of the motion. But for a motion seeking the admission of new/amended contentions, see 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(f)(2); see also id.

§ 2.323(a)(1) (motions for new/amended contentions not subject to section 2.323 requirements),

to be considered timely under 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(c)(1)(iii), such a motion (and the accompanying new/amended contention) should be filed within 30 days of the date upon which the information that is the basis of the motion becomes available to the petitioner/intervenor. Moreover, notwithstanding the provisions of section 2.309(i)(1), any answer to a motion seeking the admission of a new/amended contention shall be due within 14 days of service of the motion, and any reply to an answer is due within seven days of service of the response.

enclosures (not exhibits), with a separate alpha or numeric designation given to each appended document (e.g., Attachment A, Enclosure 1), either on the first page of the appended document or on a cover/divider sheet in front of the appended document. Attachments or enclosures to a motion and any related responsive pleadings are not subject to the page limitation set forth in section II.B.1 above, but should be submitted via the agencys E-Filing system as part of a single electronic file consisting of the pleading or other submission, the certificate of service, and all the attachments or enclosures associated with the pleading or submission. In accordance with the agencys electronic submission guidance (at page 6), multiple electronic files should be used for pleadings or submissions with attachments or enclosures only if the filing exceeds 1000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) in size.18 The label exhibit should be reserved for use as a designation for those items that are submitted, whether by prefiling or at the time of an evidentiary hearing, as potential materials a participant will seek to have identified for inclusion in the evidentiary record of the proceeding.

Each evidentiary hearing exhibit (including prefiled written testimony) must be submitted via the agencys E-Filing system as a separate electronic file. See 10 C.F.R. § 2.304(g).

F.

Filing Date on Pleadings The Board directs that the first page of each pleading submitted by a participant include the pleadings filing date in the upper right-hand corner or as part of the caption.

G.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Given the development of generative AI and its use in the legal community, the Board reminds the participants that the signature on any submission is a certification that the signer has made an independent determination that the submission is supported by appropriate and accurate references to legal authority and factual basis. 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(d); see id.

18 See https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML13031A056.pdf (access link for Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC (rev. 10 May 30, 2023)).

§ 2.304(d). Accordingly, submission of a filing containing inaccurate AI-generated content, such as non-existent legal authority, may result in appropriate sanctions being imposed by the Board.

See id. § 2.323(d) (indicating failure to provide accurate filings may result in appropriate sanctions, including striking a matter from the record or, in extreme circumstances, dismissal of the party).

III.

INITIAL PREHEARING CONFERENCE The Board has not yet determined whether it will hold an initial prehearing conference to hear arguments regarding any disputes over standing or the admissibility of the proffered contentions.

To facilitate an efficient process and to minimize scheduling conflicts, the Boards law clerk, Ms. Georgia Rock (Georgia.Rock@nrc.gov), will email participants with proposed dates for an initial prehearing conference. Within two business days of Ms. Rocks email, a representative from each participant shall respond via an email that identifies any scheduling conflict on the proposed dates and states the basis of the conflict. Based on the participants responses, Ms. Rock will advise participants of a tentative date for the conference. Participants are directed to keep this date free, and to immediately notify Ms. Rock of any changes to availability.

The Board further notes that if it decides to conduct an initial prehearing conference, that prehearing conference will be held in the Licensing Board Panels Rockville, Maryland hearing room with an additional opportunity for public access to any public portions of the conference.19 19 The Board will consider requests for the remote video appearance of participants, which should be directed to Ms. Rock as part of the scheduling response email provided for above.

Should the Board decide to grant such a request, all participants will appear remotely.

IV.

LIMITED APPEARANCE STATEMENTS Finally, at some point later in this proceeding the Board will determine whether it intends to conduct an oral limited appearance statements session. For now, in accord with 10 C.F.R.

§ 2.315(a), any person not a participant to this proceeding who wishes to make a statement regarding the issues in the proceeding can do so in writing. Limited appearance statements, which are placed in the docket for the hearing, provide members of the public with an opportunity to make the Board and/or the participants aware of their concerns about matters at issue in the proceeding.

A written limited appearance statement can be submitted at any time and should be sent to the Office of the Secretary using one of the methods prescribed below:

Mail to:

Office of the Secretary Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 205550001 Email to:

hearing.docket@nrc.gov In addition, a copy of the limited appearance statement should be sent to the Boards law clerk at the email address Georgia.rock@nrc.gov.

It is so ORDERED.

FOR THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD Stefan R. Wolfe, Chair ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE Rockville, Maryland August 28, 2025

/RA/

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of

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LONG MOTT ENERGY, LLC.

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Docket No. 50-614-CP

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(Long Mott Generating Station)

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order) have been served upon the following persons by Electronic Information Exchange.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication Mail Stop: O-16B33 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: ocaamail.resource@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the Secretary of the Commission Mail Stop: O-16B33 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: hearingdocket@nrc.gov Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Stefan R. Wolfe, Chair, Administrative Judge Nicholas G. Trikouros, Administrative Judge Dr. David A. Smith, Administrative Judge Whitlee Dean, Law Clerk Georgia Rock, Law Clerk Email: stefan.wolfe@nrc.gov nicholas.trikouros@nrc.gov david.smith@nrc.gov whitlee.dean@nrc.gov georgia.rock@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop - O-14A44 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Susan Vrahoretis, Esq.

David Roth, Esq.

Julie Ezell, Esq.

Sam Stephens, Esq.

Nick Mertz, Esq.

Stacy Schumann, Team Leader Anne Fream, Paralegal Georgia Hampton, Paralegal Email: susan.vrahoretis@nrc.gov david.roth@nrc.gov julie.ezell@nrc.gov samuel.stephens@nrc.gov nicolas.mertz@nrc.gov stacy.schumann@nrc.gov anne.fream@nrc.gov georgiann.hampton@nrc.gov Counsel for San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper Perales, Allmon, & Ice, P.C.

1206 San Antonio St.

Austin, Texas 78701 Marisa Perales, Esq.

Gweneth Lonergan, Lead Legal Asst.

Email: marisa@txenvirolaw.com gwyneth@txenvirolaw.com

Long Mott Energy, LLC., Docket No. 50-614-CP MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order) 2 Counsel for Long Mott Energy, LLC.

Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius, LLP.

1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004 Ryan K. Lighty, Esq.

Alex Polonsky, Esq.

Email: ryan.lighty@morganlewis.com alex.polonsky@morganlewis.com Office of the Secretary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of August 2025.

KRISTEN HALOJ Digitally signed by KRISTEN HALOJ Date: 2025.08.28 11:51:43 -04'00'