NRC finalizes rule setting time limits for contested hearings

Contested hearings on license applications could be completed within six months under a rule the Nuclear Regulatory Commission finalized today.

The ADVANCE Act of 2024 and President Trump's Executive Order 14300, "Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission," directed the regulatory agency to streamline contested hearings and simplify procedures, reducing the burden of such hearings. As is, this final rule significantly expedites the timeline for most contested hearings, proceedings that had at times taken years to complete. The final rulemaking comes months after the NRC introduced the proposed rule.

What's in it: Under the final rulemaking, contested hearings will fall under one of three categories: standard, focused, and expedited. A hearing under the standard category would be completed within 18 months, a focused hearing would be completed within 12 months, and an expedited hearing would be completed within 6 months.

NRC General Counsel Matt Pociask said in a media call today that a hearing's category will be determined based on the complexity of the application. A contested hearing on certain uprates, for example, could fall under the expedited category.

"Not all hearings are alike. Some involve very complicated things like a brand-new reactor, never been licensed before; there will be more stuff to sort through in a contested hearing," Pociask said. "Other things are either simple license amendments, things not super complicated, or maybe it's a reactor that has been licensed before. That gives you a sense of why not every hearing needs to be as long as another."

The rule would allow hearings to start as soon as possible once a challenge is admitted. Pociask estimated that a hearing could begin within a matter of weeks once a contention is raised. The objective is to commence the process while the NRC staff's technical review is still underway.

"The way it basically works is the contested hearing will never be the long pole in the tent-it will wrap up at the same time or before the staff's actual technical review wraps up," he said.

What this rule won't do is change any of the safety and security standards applicants must meet to obtain an NRC license for a reactor or fuel facility, Pociask said. Furthermore, it doesn't change how hearings are structured; hearing boards will have a deadline to hit while also being granted flexibility on how to move forward.

In a statement, NRC Chairman Ho Nieh said, "This rule preserves public participation while making the hearing process more efficient. This is another example of how the NRC is enabling the safe and secure deployment and expansion of nuclear technologies in America."

With regard to whether the public's ability to participate in the process would be impacted, Pociask said the final rule won't change the contention admissibility standard when members of the public file a contention. In addition, public input on the proposed rule changed the NRC's original plan to follow federal court litigation rules and prohibit non-lawyers from representing entities. The final rule will still allow non-lawyers to represent entities and themselves in contested hearings.

What happens next: The final rule goes into effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. The NRC's list of completed and ongoing rulemakings expects publication of the rule in the first week of November.