nuclear-news

Under terms of the settlement, a federal claims court has approved payment of $73.5 million to Dairyland.

Utilities across the country have sued the federal government for breach of contract to get reimbursed for their nuclear waste expenses linked to spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The federal government is in charge of finding a long-term disposal site for nuclear fuel and had committed to open that site by 1998.

However, no long-term storage site has been opened. Plans to build a permanent disposal site in Nevada at Yucca Mountain were canceled by the Obama administration. The industry is now considering alternative disposal options.

Katie Thomson, Dairyland spokeswoman, said Dairyland will be paid for the expenses it incurred to remove fuel from its reactor and then move it to concrete casks located outside the power plant, located in the village of Genoa near La Crosse.

The money should be received within three months, said Thomson.

Dairyland’s nuclear reactor was shut down in 1987 and is in the process of being decommissioned by Energy Solutions, a company that works on decommissioning projects around the country, including the Zion nuclear power plant located just across from Kenosha County in Zion, Ill……http://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/energy/2016/10/21/feds-pay-dairyland-735-million-nuclear-settlement/92514596/