By way of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), the federal government became responsible for disposal of high-level radioactive waste - including spent or used nuclear fuel from commercial reactors. Utilities, ratepayers and regulators had the expectation from the NWPA that the Department of Energy (DOE) would begin initial waste acceptance and disposal in the properly licensed and constructed repository by January 31, 1998, as the law and contracts signed with owners of spent fuel required. Utility ratepayers have paid, and continue to pay, for the disposal costs of the material. To date, ratepayers in states that receive power from commercial nuclear utilities have paid over billion dollars into the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF). Including allocated interest, the NWF today totals almost billion, but only a fraction of the money collected from ratepayers has actually been spent on developing the Yucca Mountain repository. The ratepayers in South Carolina have paid nearly .3 billion into the NWF, or more than .3 billion when interest is included. State public utilities commissions, like mine, are one of the stakeholders on the disposition of used nuclear fuel from commercial 2 reactors because the fees paid to the Nuclear Waste Fund by the current caretakers of the used fuel, the electric utilities, are passed on to the ratepayers who are supplied with electricity from nuclear power generation
Tags: john, spratt, south, carolina, yucca, mountain, david, wright, house, budget, committee, Cmte, Dem
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