Graham’s Bill Seeks to Rebate Nuclear Waste Funds :: POWER Magazine

Power magazine's site reports on a bill that calls for the US government to return the funds collected for a nuclear repository following the inability of the government to provide one.

Graham’s Bill Seeks to Rebate Nuclear Waste Funds :: POWER Magazine:

"“No one should be required to pay for an empty hole in the Nevada desert,” said Graham. “The decision by the Obama Administration to close Yucca Mountain was ill-advised and leaves our nation without a disposal plan for spent nuclear fuel or Cold War waste. It was a political, not scientific, decision. It is incumbent on the Administration to come up with a disposal plan for this real problem facing our nation.”
The Nuclear Waste Fund Relief and Rebate Act introduced by Graham on Monday would rebate the funds back to electric utilities and consumers. About 75% of the amount rebated to utilities would be returned to their customers, and the remaining portion will be used to make upgrades to on-site storage facilities.
Among major provisions in Graham’s bill are that within 30 days of the law’s passage,"the president “must certify that Yucca Mountain remains the preferred choice to serve as the federal repository for spent nuclear fuel and defense-related nuclear waste.” Graham said the DOE had spent “billions of dollars and decades” studying the suitability of Yucca Mountain as the nation’s repository for spent nuclear fuel and defense waste. “Consistently, the science has borne out that Yucca Mountain is the best site to dispose of nuclear waste.”
If the president failed to make that certification, all funds in the trust fund would be rebated back to utilities, it says. The legislation also includes waste confidence language that allows for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to continue to safeguard waste sites and license nuclear reactors in the event the presidential certification is not made, Graham said.

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