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Battle in USA over nuclear wastes costs

It marks only the latest chapter, however, in the fiery battle over nuclear-waste storage. While a storage facility would be a boon to the nuclear-power industry, it’s considered a pariah to people who live near proposed site locations.

Nuclear-Power Firms Push Back Against Fees – WSJ.com, FEBRUARY 11, 2011,   By TENNILLE TRACY

WASHINGTON—Buried in the details of President Barack Obama’s budget release Monday will be more than $770 million that nuclear-power companies pay each year for a waste-storage site that’s years behind schedule.But this might be the last year the White House can count on that income.

Nuclear-power companies are pressing to suspend the hefty fees they pay into the national nuclear-waste fund. Created by Congress in 1982, this fund was designed to finance the government’s storage of radioactive waste. And, until recently, it was to pay for a new waste dump at Yucca Mountain, Nev.

But with more than $24 billion dedicated to the fund, and the federal government still years away from building a storage site, the companies say they are tired of funneling money toward a project whose fate is uncertain………

Debate over the nuclear-waste fee coincides with the Obama administration’s effort to promote nuclear energy as a way to cut down greenhouse-gas pollution and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil.

It marks only the latest chapter, however, in the fiery battle over nuclear-waste storage. While a storage facility would be a boon to the nuclear-power industry, it’s considered a pariah to people who live near proposed site locations.

In 2009, the Obama administration started to scrap the facility at Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles from Las Vegas, following years of fierce opposition from Nevada lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.).

After the administration decided to abandon Yucca Mountain, nuclear-power companies, represented by the Nuclear Energy Institute, asked the Energy Department to suspend the waste-fund fees. The companies argued the government didn’t need to collect more fees until another plan was developed………Nuclear-Power Firms Push Back Against Fees – WSJ.com

February 12, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes