Nuclear Reactor Waste Fees Ordered to Zero by Appeals Court
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The U.S. Department of Energy was ordered by a federal appeals court to move toward ending a fee utilities pay for nuclear waste disposal because the government has no alternative to the canceled Yucca Mountain repository.
The department has failed to come up with a court-ordered assessment to determine if the current fee is appropriate in the wake of the suspension of the Yucca Mountain project, Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman wrote for a three-judge panel in Washington. The disposal fee cost utilities $750 million last year, according to court documents.