NWSC Renews Call for Action on Unfortunate 25th Anniversary

January 31, 2023 – Today is the 25^th anniversary of the date the federal government was obligated by federal law and by contract to begin the removal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and other high-level radioactive waste from nuclear plants across the nation; however, SNF remains indefinitely stranded on operating and shutdown plant sites where it was generated.  In honor of this unfortunate silver anniversary, the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC)[i] reflects upon the intended but unfulfilled quid pro quo—commercial nuclear waste disposal in return for the billions of dollars in fees collected by nuclear-generating utilities—and calls on both Congress and the Administration to fulfill the longstanding obligation and timely re-establish a national, integrated nuclear waste management program.

Electric customers in 41 states and all U.S. taxpayers have brought a great deal to the table.  Since 1983, more than $21.5 billion has been collected from electric customers for the federal Nuclear Waste Fund, which has accumulated more than $31 billion in interest and carries an approximate $46 billion balance (while continuing to accumulate interest at approximately $1.7 billion per year).  In addition, U.S. taxpayers have paid more than $10 billion thus far and are conservatively estimated to be required to pay an additional $31 billion in damages due to the federal government’s failure to meet the 1998 deadline to begin removing SNF.  Simply, it is past time for the federal government to honor its part of the agreement with meaningful action. 

“In Minnesota and many other states, communities and tribes that host nuclear power plants (whether such plants are operating or have now ceased operations) are unable to rely on any date for the federal government to remove SNF,” stated Katie Sieben, Chair of both the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the NWSC.  She continued, “Despite notable efforts to advance solutions over the past 25 years by Congress, the Department of Energy, and stakeholders, inaction has prevailed.  The NWSC thus renews our call for the Congressional direction and sustained annual funding necessary to establish a national integrated program for the long overdue storage, transportation, and disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste.”

The NWSC stands ready to work with Congress and the Administration on the primary reforms needed to achieve such an integrated program.

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[i] The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition is an ad hoc organization representing the collective interests of member state utility regulators, consumer advocates, attorneys general, and radiation control officials; tribal governments; local governments; electric utilities with operating and/or shutdown nuclear reactors; and other experts on nuclear waste policy matters.  For over two decades, we have called for the Department of Energy to remove and ultimately dispose of commercial nuclear waste in accordance with federal law and contracts with electric utilities.