$24 billion sits unused in a nuclear waste management fund

[wtmusic]

while spent nuclear fuel is being stored at 120+ locations around the country - on fault lines, exposed to the weather, vulnerable to theft/attack.

The death of Yucca Mountain is the price Democrats paid for Harry Reid's endorsement of Obama in 2008, but the good news is consumers may not have to pay for lots of nothing anymore:

NEI, Electric Utilities File Suit for Suspension of Fee Collected for Reactor Fuel Management

"WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Nuclear Energy Institute and 16 of its member companies have filed suit in federal court seeking suspension of the fee that consumers of electricity produced at nuclear energy facilities pay for the federal government’s used nuclear fuel management activities. The suit was filed March 8 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners also filed suit against the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday, seeking similar relief.

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The lawsuit calls on the court to direct the U.S. Department of Energy to suspend collection of the one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour surcharge that consumers pay on their electric bills pending DOE’s compliance with provisions of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. The fee is paid to the Nuclear Waste Fund, held in the U.S. Treasury."

http://www.nei.org/newsandevents/newsreleases/nei-electric-utilities-file-suit-for-suspension-of-fee-collected-for-reactor-fuel-management

[Tikki]

1. So much waste...so little time.....But...WAIT!!!!

My cousin has put over 30 years into NUKE waste cleanup at the reactor site that was shut down in the '70s.



Tikki

[wtmusic]

2. Which one? nt

[Tikki]

4. Hanford.....

Tikki

[kristopher]

3. Defraying business risks as a form of subsidy

Nuclear waste management.
The federal Nuclear Waste Repository for spent fuel is expected to cost nearly $100 billion over its projected operating life, 80 percent of which is attributed to the power sector. A congressionally mandated fee on nuclear power consumers, further shield plant developers from costs associated with regulatory or legal delays earmarked for the repository, has collected roughly $31 billion in waste-disposal fees through 2009. There is no mechanism other than investment returns on collections to fully fund the repository once reactors close.

The repository confers a variety of subsidies to the nuclear sector. First, despite its complexity and sizable investment, the repository is structured to operate on a break-even basis at best, with no required return on investment. Second, utilities do not have to pay any fee to secure repository capacity; in fact, they are allowed to defer payments for waste generated prior to the repository program’s creation, at interest rates well below their cost of capital. Third, the significant risk of delays and cost overruns will be borne by taxpayers rather than the program’s beneficiaries. Delays in the repository’s open- ing have already triggered a rash of lawsuits and taxpayer-funded waste storage at reactor sites, at a cost between $12 billion and $50 billion.

-NUCLEAR POWER: Still Not Viable Without Subsidies pg 8-9

http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/nuclear_power/nuclear_subsidies_report.pdf