The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in July spent just shy of $149,000 of its remaining balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund on activities related to licensing of the planned Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada.
Nearly all of the money — $143,744 – went toward knowledge management reports that provide technical data to assist in the review of the underground storage facility that would hold tens of thousands of tons of spent fuel from U.S. commercial nuclear reactors and high-level radioactive waste. The regulator spent the remainder on the supplement to the environmental impact statement on Yucca Mountain, which was completed more than a year ago; program planning and support; and federal court litigation, according to the update sent on Aug. 18 by NRC Chair Kristine Svinicki to Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The Nuclear Waste Fund was established in 1982 to provide for financing of the waste repository, which Congress in 1987 determined would be built at Yucca Mountain. The NRC had access to $13.5 million in 2013 when a federal court directed the agency to continue with the licensing process for the repository, which the Obama administration had halted several years earlier. The NRC has to date spent nearly $8.4 million to complete the safety evaluation report for the facility; $1.6 million on development of the EIS supplement; and $1.1 million to load relevant documents onto its online documentation portal.
The NRC’s remaining balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund was $786,725 as of July 31, though $179,498 was already committed, largely on existing contracts. The total unobligated amount was $607,227.
In its fiscal 2018 budget, the agency requested $30 million from the Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for resuming its review of the Department of Energy’s license application for Yucca Mountain as the Trump administration attempts to revive the project. The House has supported the request, while Senate appropriators have rejected any federal funding for Yucca.
