http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR-US_utilities_regulators_sue_DoE_over_waste_fund-0604108.htmlSixteen electricity utilities, together with US nuclear industry organisation the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Energy (DoE) seeking a suspension of payments into the country's nuclear waste fund. The suit follows a similar one filed days before by state utility regulators.
On 2 March, the National Association of Utility Regulators (NARUC), which represents state regulators and public utility commissions, filed a lawsuit against the DoE's decision to continue collecting fees for the management of spent nuclear fuel pending a decision on the country's future waste disposal strategy. Now, together with sixteen nuclear utilities, the NEI has also filed a suit with the same court, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeking suspension of the fee.
A fee of one-tenth of a cent for every kilowatt-hour of nuclear generation has been levied by the DoE since the Nuclear Waste Fund was established by Congress in 1982. The fund was set up to pay for the transportation and permanent disposal of commercial nuclear waste. However, since the Obama administration decided to terminate the project to build a permanent waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, DoE is still a long way from fulfilling its promise to move and safely dispose of the waste.
Following on from the decision to halt work on Yucca Mountain, the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future was announced earlier this year, tasked with developing a new strategy for nuclear waste management in the US. This could potentially include options such as reprocessing and recycling of spent fuel.
<more>
Who pays for disposing the spent nuclear fuel that these utilities used to make piles of $$$$$$????
((((((
YOU DO)))))))
yup!
:thumbsdown: