New build
Two companies have asked the NRC to let them start site work before their permits are decided, more than eight months apart.
- Source
- Federal Register, 8 October 2026
- Earliest possible permit
- 19 November 2026
Why it matters
A limited work authorization moves the date a site mobilizes away from the date the permit is decided. For the Palisades plant in Michigan, the earliest a permit can issue is 19 November 2026.
SMR, LLC filed a phased construction permit application for a dual-unit SMR-300 at Palisades in Michigan. Blue Energy filed one for a BWRX-300 at Victoria, Texas. Both ask to start site work before the permit is decided.
A phased construction permit application arrives in parts; Part 1 carries the limited work authorization request.
Palisades is more than eight months ahead: filed 31 December 2025, docketed 27 February 2026. Blue Energy filed 15 September 2026 and is not docketed; the NRC says later notices will say whether it is.
Palisades has an earliest permit date, set by rule. Under 10 CFR 50.43(a)(3) the notices run four consecutive weeks, then no license for four more. The series began 1 October 2026, the fourth notice publishes 22 October 2026, and the bar lifts 19 November 2026.
In the document
-
No license will be issued by the NRC prior to the giving of these notices and until 4 weeks after the last notice is published in the Federal Register.
10 CFR 50.43(a)(3) -
Subsequent Federal Register notices will address the acceptability of the tendered application for docketing and opportunities for participation of the public during the course of the staff's review.
Federal Register 2026-20678, the Blue Energy notice of 8 October 2026
What to watch
Blue Energy intends to file the full construction permit application within 18 months of 15 September 2026, by March 2028.
The documents
- Palisades, second of four weekly notices, 8 October 2026 Dockets 50-616 and 50-617, Docket ID NRC-2026-0265. Filed 31 December 2025, docketed 27 February 2026
- Blue Energy, notice of receipt, 8 October 2026 Docket 99902137, Docket ID NRC-2026-4654. Filed 15 September 2026, tendered and not yet docketed
- 10 CFR 50.43(a)(3), the four-week bar on issuance Four consecutive weekly notices, then no license until four weeks after the last. Text via Cornell LII
This item was read off the documents above. ENTEL does not run an item it cannot source.