Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
7/24/2015
A federal claims judge last week awarded Entergy Nuclear Palisades $20.6 million for damages caused by the Department of Energy’s failure to dispose of spent nuclear fuel from a company power plant, as outlined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA). Entergy is seeking $36.4 million for the government’s breach of contract at its Palisades Power Plant in Michigan, but the Federal Court of Claims judge split the case into two partial judgements. The first part awarded Entergy the $20.6 million, an amount DOE has agreed it owes for spent nuclear fuel costs. The remaining $15.8 million remains in dispute, and will go through further litigation, the judge said.
DOE had argued, though, that the $20.6 million payment should not occur until the judge makes a final decision on the full amount owed, but the court rejected that argument for its failure to allow interest to accrue on the amount owed. “The delay in payment is particularly problematic in this case because the plaintiff will not be able to collect interest,” Judge Nancy Firestone said in her decision. “The court cannot ignore the fact that [Entergy] will not be able to recover interest on the damages that the government has agreed it must pay, an issue which weighed heavily in favor of granting partial judgment at this time.”
Under the NWPA, DOE is required to deal with the high-level waste generated by commercial nuclear reactors, but the department has not been able to fulfill its obligations since it shuttered the Yucca Mountain geological repository project in 2010. Payouts in total to utilities have ballooned to nearly $3 billion, with litigation to continue for the foreseeable future. DOE estimates its liabilities in court damages somewhere in the $23 billion to $27 billion range.
