nuclear-news

USA’s radioactive nuclear waste piles up, with no plan in sight

Florida PSC to consider more rate hikes for nuke projects at FPL and Progress Energy, Kenric Ward, Sunshine State News,  August 10, 2011  “…….RADIOACTIVE WASTE PILES UP, WITH NO PLAN IN SIGHT As another subsidy for the nuclear industry, the federal government has pledged to dispose of the waste, which remains radioactive for hundreds if not thousands of years. But legal fights, transportation concerns and a prevailing not-in-my-backyard mentality have blocked solutions.

In fact, no federal money is available anyway. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that since the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, Congress and successive administrations have funneled a $25 billion disposal fund into the government’s general coffers.

Because Washington failed to start taking spent fuel as promised beginning in 1998, utilities are suing it to cover their additional storage costs, the Journal reported. Legal fees are $16.2 billion and counting.

After spending billions to dig a dry-cask storage facility in the Nevada desert, Washington has, for now, scrapped that plan. Last month, the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future declared that the U.S. nuclear-waste disposal program has “all but broken down.” …

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