Comment (49) of Don Martin on FR Doc # 2026-08155, NRC-2025-2161-0007, from Don Martin

I serve as chairman of the Forsyth County Board of County Commissioners. We have enjoyed a wonderful partnership with Duke Energy over the years and recently were able to purchase land and build a new county park at Belews Lake near the existing power station. I have also had the opportunity to visit Duke's McGuire nuclear installation and was extremely impressed with the safety protocols and security. While I believe that the modular nuclear reactors are a very expensive energy source, I have every confidence that the use of small nuclear reactors are our future if we are ever going to reduce our dependency on coal and gas powered plants. The Piedmont area of NC is experiencing slow but steady population growth. But the recent expansion of the Toyota Battery plant in Guilford and Randolph Counties and the rapid and extensive economic development around Piedmont International Airport (this month, Jet Zero is holding their ground-breaking ceremony for their new single wing airplane manufacturing plant with an expected 14,000 plus jobs in the next 10 years), power demands are going to grow exponentially. For all these reasons, I am very supportive of Duke Energy's request for an early site permit to investigate the possible installantion of modular reactors. Don Martin, chair, Forsyth County Commissioners