A federal court has awarded power company Entergy $49.4 million in damages stemming from the Department of Energy’s failure to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
In an opinion filed Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims awarded Entergy about 60 percent of the $80.8 million the company sought in damages incurred between 1996 and 2012. A previous U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruling established DOE’s partial breach of contract related to the 1983 Standard Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High Level Radioactive Waste. Liabilities against the U.S. government have mounted as it abandoned plans for a national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada and initiated a new search for waste storage sites.
The plaintiffs — listed as System Fuels Inc., Entergy Louisiana Inc., and Entergy Louisiana LLC — sued the federal government in 2003. The company sought damages related to DOE’s failure to meet its mandate to collect and dispose of spent nuclear fuel from the Waterford Nuclear Generating Station Unit 3 in Killona, La. The opinion concluded that Entergy incurred damages for its dry fuel storage project, including its independent spent fuel storage installation pad, haul path improvements, security, and Holtec cask purchases.
“In the non-breach world, Plaintiffs would not have had to store their spent fuel on-site,” the opinion reads. “It is uncontroverted that had DOE performed, Plaintiffs would not have required the extra storage space provided by placing spent fuel on an ISFSI in Holtec storage canisters.”
Entergy spokesman Michael Burns said by email Wednesday that while the company expects the government to ultimately fulfill its waste disposal obligation, it will continue to seek reimbursement for future costs associated with DOE failure.
“We are pleased the court continues to recognize the federal government’s responsibility to reimburse costs incurred as a result of the government’s continued failure to perform its duties under the contract for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel,” Burns stated. “The company is presently evaluating the recent judgment in favor of Waterford 3 in detail to determine what, if anything, further needs to be done to protect the company’s interests and ensure that costs related to the government’s continued failure to perform are adequately reimbursed.”
DOE spokesman Bart Jackson said department does not comment on ongoing legal matters.
According to Congressional Budget Office statistics from 2015, the federal government has paid more than $5.3 billion in damages to electric utilities resulting from broken contracts in its obligation to extract and dispose of civilian nuclear waste.
Entergy Reports $176.6M Loss for 2015
Entergy Corp. recorded a $176.6 million loss for 2015, according to an earnings report released Thursday.
Despite the loss, Entergy Chairman and CEO Leo Denault said in a statement that 2015 results are consistent with the company’s earnings projections, and he expects strong utility growth in 2016 largely due to strategies implemented in 2015.
“In 2015, we successfully worked through an extensive to-do list aimed at laying the foundation for steady and predictable utility, parent, and other earnings growth and improving certainty in our merchant generation business,” Denault said. “Some of these actions, while necessary, were difficult for our stakeholders and impacted our as-reported financial results for the year.”
The report shows a $99.6 million loss for fourth-quarter 2015. That compares to a $120.1 million loss in the same quarter of 2014, a year in which the company reported a $940.7 million loss for the entire 12 months.
In the company’s earnings conference call, Denault regarded fourth-quarter 2015 as “good overall,” but said lingering risks and uncertainties resulted in a few one-time expenses. Those included two regulatory charges in the utilities segment and two asset impairments associated with strategic changes for the company’s Entergy Wholesale Commodities business.
“With those things now behind us, we’ve initiated 2016 guidance with a midpoint in line with our expectations,” Denault said.
