The Nuclear Energy Institute in a recent memo to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has asked that the Energy Department complete the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain geologic repository in Nevada, and to continue working to establish interim nuclear waste storage locations.
NEI, the nuclear industry’s lobbying arm, urged DOE to fulfill its Nuclear Waste Policy Act obligations and develop Yucca Mountain. The memo, dated December 2016 and released this week, also asks that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission “ensure an efficient and predictable licensing process for an Away-From-Reactor consolidated interim storage facility, in a location with a willing host.”
DOE is involved in several lawsuits tied to its failure to accept nuclear waste from utilities by 1998, as mandated in the 1987 amendment to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. The Yucca Mountain repository was supposed to hold that material, but the Obama administration killed the project in 2009 in favor of a “consent-based” approach in which one or more permanent waste storage sites would be ready by the late 2040s.
The federal government has spent about $15 billion on Yucca Mountain since 1987. The NRC has spent about $12 million of Nuclear Waste Fund money on Yucca licensing activities since 2013, when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the agency to resume the license review using previously appropriated funds.
Earlier this year, NEI commented on the consent-based approach, suggesting DOE separate itself from private interim nuclear waste storage efforts, while also demanding the department request congressional funding to complete the Yucca licensing review. Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) later criticized the industry for attempting to block interim storage efforts. Recently appointed NEI President and CEO Maria Korsnick has since said that Yucca Mountain and interim storage must move forward together in order for the U.S. to reach a permanent solution on nuclear waste.
More than 70,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel now remains in storage at U.S. nuclear sites around the country. NEI, in its memo to Trump, said interim storage efforts would “allow re-use of former reactor sites where used fuel is now stranded, and cut the government’s cost in legal judgments, already in the billions of dollars, for failing to meet its contractual obligations.”
“A new organization, more businesslike in its approach, should be established and given access to the Nuclear Waste Fund, money paid in by the industry and its customers to solve this problem, and now sitting idle,” NEI wrote.
Private company Waste Control Specialists has submitted its NRC application for a 40,000-metric-ton-capacity interim storage facility in West Texas, while Holtec International is eyeing a March submittal date for a 120,000-metric-ton capacity facility about 12 miles away from DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. Both projects would likely fall under DOE’s consent-based siting process. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has said that the United States could be operating consolidated interim storage in a little over five years with congressional authorization.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is Trump’s pick for energy secretary, in 2014 voiced support for siting an in-state location to store Texas’ spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste. Perry has a long history with WCS, and the company’s owner served as one of the top contributors to Perry’s 2012 presidential bid.
Wide Gap Between DOE, Industry Estimates on Waste Liabilities
While the nuclear industry estimates DOE’s remaining liabilities for nuclear waste disposal at $50 billion, the department regards that number as “highly inflated,” projecting remaining damages at $24.7 billion.
That’s according to the department’s Nuclear Waste Fund audit report for fiscal 2016, which was monitored by the DOE Inspector General’s Office and made public Monday. According to the report, 79 lawsuits with the utilities, concerning nuclear waste obligations, have either been settled or are subject to a judgment in trial court. The Treasury Department’s Judgment Fund has paid $6.1 billion in damages through Sept. 30, according to the report; based on settlement projections, the total liability estimate is $30.8 billion, leaving $24.7 billion as of the end of fiscal 2016 on Sept. 30.
DOE spokesman Seth Larson said the industry’s $50 billion estimate originated from energy industry attorney Jay Silberg. Silberg’s estimate is based on the assumption that waste will remain stranded indefinitely, resulting in a “total default.” According to an article from CNBC, DOE has estimated that in the event of total default, it could cost the government between $75 billion and $82 billion over the course of 100 years.
The OIG-monitored audit was conducted by independent public accounting firm KPMG, which was tasked with offering opinions on the fund’s financial statement, internal controls, and compliance with laws and regulations. According to KPMG, DOE’s financial statements have been presented fairly.
Gaming Trade Group Against Yucca Restart
The American Gaming Association, in a memo to Trump, on Tuesday opposed the potential revival of Yucca Mountain licensing proceedings with the NRC.
Sources close with the Trump transition team say his still-developing administration is exploring restarting the project licensing process with the NRC. The trade group, which represents the $240 billion U.S casino industry, expressed “serious concerns” with any plans to restart Yucca Mountain.
“Yucca Mountain is located just 90 miles from Las Vegas, and any problems with the transport of nuclear waste to the site, or issues with its storage there, would bring potentially devastating consequences to the world’s premier tourist destination and the industry, which all Nevadans rely on in one way or another,” the group wrote.
