The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is holding an uncontested hearing on Sept. 22 at 5:30 p.m. Central Time in Port Lavaca, Texas for X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular reactor (SMR) project in Seadrift, Texas.
The uncontested hearing, or mandatory hearing, will give public members an opportunity to discuss and ask questions about X-energy’s construction permit application, according to the Aug. 20 Federal Register notice. It will be held at the Bauer Community Center located at 2300 Hwy. 35 Bypass N, Port Lavaca, TX 77979.
According to the notice, the hearing will not be permissible for members of the public to request a contested hearing or petition to intervene in the application’s review process. Additionally, an open house to freely speak with NRC staff will be held at the same location prior to the hearing from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Central Time.
Filed by Dow’s subsidiary Long Mott Energy in March 2025, the construction permit application seeks to build a four-reactor station using X-Energy’s Xe-100 SMR design. This nuclear plant will be used to power Dow’s UCC Seadrift Operations manufacturing location, which is currently powered by natural gas.
NRC staff completed the review of X-energy’s environmental review in May, and based on the agency’s updated 18-month review schedule released in June 2025 the application review should be completed by November.
X-energy’s Xe-100 reactor is designed to be a high-temperature gas-cooled SMR with the generating capacity of 80 megawatts. The reactor is designed to operate as a four-pack power plant that generates 320 megawatts. It also will use tri-structural isotropic, also known as TRISO, fuel to power the SMR.