nuclear-news

Left unsettled is an issue that has vexed the industry and political leaders for decades: where to dispose of 70,000 metric tons of atomic waste now in temporary storage at power plants across the country. “There’s nothing in this opinion that’s going to move a single fuel rod a single foot from where it’s sitting now,” Peter Bradford, a former Nuclear Regulatory Commission member and professor at Vermont Law School, said in a phone interview.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington ruled that the Energy Department must take steps to suspend collection of the nuclear-waste fee from utilities because the government has provided no alternative to a canceled project at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, for which the funds are collected.

Exelon Corp. (EXC), the largest nuclear-power operator in the U.S., would benefit most from the decision, ……

The ruling directs the department to ask Congress to change the fee to zero until it complies with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which established Yucca Mountain as the nation’s nuclear-waste repository, or until lawmakers enact an alternate plan to store spent fuel. It is now managed by reactor owners at about 75 operating and closed reactors throughout the U.S.

Government Incentive

Industry specialists said the decision may provide some incentive for the government to address lingering waste-storage options…….http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-20/nuclear-power-s-750-million-reprieve-doesn-t-end-dilemma.html