Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
3/6/2015
A federal court late last week awarded the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) an additional $22.5 million in its spent nuclear fuel case against the Department of Energy. These damages come in addition to the $53.1 million the Federal Court of Claims awarded SMUD back in June for costs incurred for DOE’s failure to dispose of the spent nuclear fuel, as outlined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, at the Rancho Secho Power Station, which ceased operations in 1989 after a community referendum voted to shut the plant down. The additional $22.5 million covers costs like the cost of storage and Nuclear Regulatory Commission license fees from 2004 to 2010, during which time, the court decided, DOE should have removed fuel by 2004. “This second phase covers the cost we incurred to store the fuel from 2005 to 2009,” SMUD Chief Legal Officer Laura Lewis said. “We are very pleased with the decision. The court awarded us all the damages that we requested— a complete victory for SMUD.” The Department of Justice did not return calls for comment this week.
Under the NWPA, DOE is required to deal with the high level waste generated by commercial nuclear reactors, but due to the shuttering of the Yucca Mountain geological repository in 2010 by the Obama Administration, DOE has not been able to fulfill its obligations. 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 $23-27 billion range. SMUD plans to file in the near future for round three damages for costs incurred from storing the spent fuel from 2010 to 2015, Lewis said.
