Duke Submits Early Site Permit Application for North Carolina Nuclear Unit

Written by Eric Funderburk for IIR News (Sugar Land Texas)

---

Summary

Duke Energy has filed an early site permit application with the NRC to construction one of six models of nuclear reactors at the site of its operating Belews Creek power plant in North Carolina.

---

Duke Energy's Application

Duke Energy Corporation (Charlotte, North Carolina) has taken a preliminary step in placing one or more small modular reactors (SMRs) at its Belews Creek site in North Carolina. This week, Duke submitted an early site permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the placement of a nuclear unit at the existing two-unit coal- and natural gas-fired plant in Stokes County.

An early site permit application is an optional initial step in the nuclear application process that, in essence, puts out some preliminary feelers and declares construction interest in a somewhat noncommittal way. There's no commitment to any specific generating capacity, nor to any particular type of technology.

Possible Reactor Technologies

In a press release regarding the application, Duke stated that it had listed six possible options for reactor technologies, including four SMRs and two non-light-water designs. One option may be GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's (Wilmington, North Carolina) BWRX-300 SMR, a 300-megawatt (MW) reactor that has very much become one of the initial go-to options for consideration for nuclear projects in North America's nascent SMR sector. While not confirmed, the mention of non-light-water reactors elicits the idea that Duke may be considering TerraPower's (Bellevue, Washington) Natrium reactor, a 345-MW sodium-cooled fast reactor coupled with built-in energy storage, described by TerraPower as an "advanced reactor," rather than an SMR. The early site permit (ESP) application allows Duke to choose a technology later in the regulatory process. Duke pointed out that larger, traditional reactors similar to what it currently operates in the Carolinas were not included as possible options.

In Keeping with October Plan

The announcement is more or less in keeping with Duke's 2025 Carolinas Resource Plan, which it released in October. That plan stated that Duke was considering two sites for new nuclear construction: the Belews Creek site in North Carolina and the W.S. Lee site in Cherokee County, South Carolina. The language used suggested an either/or scenario in which only one site would finally be selected.

While that plan said Duke was considering more than 1,100 MW of new nuclear power by 2037, the recent ESP downsizes this to 600 MW by 2037, with the goal of having an initial reactor begin operations by 2036.

Belews Creek

The 2,240-MW Belews Creek Steam Station entered commercial operations in 1974. In 2015, Duke touted that the plant had been ranked the fifth most efficient coal-fired plant in the U.S. by consultant Energy Ventures Analysis using data provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Of course, technologies change and become increasingly inefficient compared to newer offerings, leaving their predecessors in the dust. In early 2022 Duke found itself disputing data and statistics provider Find Energy's contention that the Belews Creek station was, in fact, No. 78 among the "100 Dirtiest Power Plants in the United States."

That report came in spite of, or perhaps too quickly on the heels of, Duke's conversion of both 1,120-MW Belews Creek units to burn a mixture of up to 50% natural gas along with coal. Work on Unit 1 was completed in early 2020, followed by Unit 2 at the beginning of early 2021.

Nevertheless, Duke still included Belews Creek on its list of coal plants that it had slated for closure in the 2030s, but this goal was moved back in the company's October resources plan, which announced Duke's intentions to delay the retirement date for Belews Creek and two other coal-fired plants set for retirement around the same time.

While the overall trend for burning coal for power in the U.S. is a downward one, 2025 brought an uptick to coal use in the U.S., primarily brought about by a significant increase in natural gas prices. Given the option, many U.S. owners of dual-fueled coal/gas units in the U.S. opted to use coal, as it provided better economics. The Trump administration's much more lenient stance in regard to the U.S. coal sector compared with its Biden-era counterpart also has provided somewhat of a respite in regard to allowable emissions and the regulatory stringency.

This year's resource plan for the Carolinas saw Duke desiring to delay Belews Creek's retirement from the end of 2035 to 2040 in order to give the company more time to consider nuclear technologies.

Industrial Info's project report on the placement of an initial nuclear unit at Belews Creek, available since December 2023 and updated regularly since then, suggests construction wouldn't begin until sometime in the 2030s and may take around four years to complete.

Other Nuclear Movement

While Duke's ESP application represents an informal initial step in the nuclear construction process, it will probably be greeted with enthusiasm by the NRC, which under the second Trump administration has declared its intentions to ease regulatory burdens and encourage more nuclear development in the U.S.

In late October, the NRC gave the green light to TerraPower's planned construction of one of its Natrium reactors at a Wyoming site, and the company is actively pursuing construction of another unit in Kansas. For more information, see the related report on the Wyoming project.

A little more than a month later, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that it would provide up to $800 million in combined funds to Holtec International (Jupiter, Florida) and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (Knoxville, Tennessee) for development of SMRs at Holtec's Palisades site in Michigan (see project report) and TVA's Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (see project report).

Holtec is planning to construct two of its own 300-MW SMRs at the Michigan site, while TVA plans to use GE-Hitachi's BWRX-300.

An Encouraging Environment

As policies change, so changes the industry, and in the face of a very encouraging regulatory atmosphere, nuclear energy is seeing a resurgence of interest in the U.S., additionally supported by new SMR and advanced reactor technologies that seem able to bring this emissions-free form of power at greatly reduced prices with much shorter construction timelines.

While Duke's early site permit application is possibly the final major move in the U.S. nuclear sector this year, 2026 and beyond remain ripe for development and will almost certainly bring further applications and permits.

Key Takeaways

• This week, Duke Energy announced that it had filed an early site permit application for installation of nuclear technology at its Belews Creek site in North Carolina.
• Duke is aiming for the addition of 600 MW of new nuclear power by 2037, with the goal of having an initial reactor deploying power by 2036.
• Duke's application is perhaps this year's final major move in a U.S. nuclear sector that has garnered a resurgence in interest recently.

---

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).