NRC Opens Contested Hearing on Global Laser Enrichment Paducah License

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission published a Federal Register notice and issued a press release on March 6, 2026 that opens an opportunity to request a contested hearing on Global Laser Enrichment, LLC’s license application for the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility, Docket No. 70-7033. The facility would sit adjacent to the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in McCracken County, Kentucky and would use laser-based isotope separation technology to re-enrich depleted UF6 tails and enrich natural-grade UF6 up to a maximum of 8-weight percent uranium-235.

The Federal Register notice makes clear the procedural window for intervention: “Any person whose interest may be affected can file a request for a hearing and a petition to intervene within 60 days after publication of this notice. Petitions must follow 10 CFR 2.309 and late petitions are not accepted unless the presiding officer finds good cause under the regulation.” With publication dated March 6, 2026 in the Federal Register, that 60-day clock is now running for parties who wish to make contentions under 10 CFR 2.309.

The notice also distinguishes the contested intervention opportunity from the regulatory mandatory hearing process. As the Federal Register text states, “Pursuant to 10 CFR 70.23a and Section 193 of the AEA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2243), an uncontested mandatory hearing will be conducted following completion of the NRC staff's safety evaluation and environmental review of the license application.” The document adds, “This hearing will be held under the authority of sections 53, 63, 189, 191, and 193 of the AEA,” and affirms that “The applicant and the NRC staff are parties to the hearing. This mandatory hearing is distinct from the contested hearing opportunity discussed below in Section III, ‘Opportunity to Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave to Intervene.’”

NRC staff set a regulatory timetable in the notice: “The NRC staff currently anticipates completing the SER in January 2027 and finalizing the EIS in September 2026.” The filing history also records prior steps: a Notice of Intent to conduct scoping and prepare an EIS appeared in the Federal Register on Sept. 5, 2025 (90 FR 42988), and the agency cites an ADAMS accession ML25202A201 for a July 2024 GLE request for an exemption from certain 10 CFR timing requirements.

Administrative details in the public filings are specific and a bit messy: Federal Register metadata lists the published document as 2026-04474 (91 FR 11092), while the GovInfo posting shows an FR Doc. 2026–04471 filed March 4, 2026 and bears the docket heading CLI–26–3 with Commissioners Ho. K. Nieh, Chairman; David A. Wright; Bradley R. Crowell; Matthew J. Marzano; and Douglas W. Weaver. The Federal Register title includes an “Order Imposing Procedures for Access to Sensitive Unclassified Non-Safeguards Information and Safeguards Information for Contention Preparation,” so parties preparing contentions should expect special access rules for SUNSI and safeguards information.

Practical contact information is provided in the GovInfo filing: for meeting status and procedural questions contact Wesley Held at 301-287-3591 or Wesley.Held@nrc.gov. Concurrent NRC rulemaking on streamlining contested adjudications, docketed as 2026-04187 with comments due April 2, 2026, will be relevant to how quickly and cheaply disputes in this licensing matter could be resolved. The EIS and SER schedule sets the regulatory cadence: the staff’s September 2026 and January 2027 milestones will determine when the mandatory hearing is held and when contested interventions can shape the record for this proposed Paducah enrichment plant.