Senator’s bill seeks Yucca Mountain refunds

WASHINGTON -- A bill introduced in the Senate would begin refunding billions of dollars to electricity consumers if President Barack Obama follows through on his vow to end the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste program.

The bill by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would dismantle the special fund dedicated to building a repository in Nevada for 77,000 tons of used nuclear fuel and waste generated by utilities and government defense programs.

If the Yucca project is scrapped, the money should be returned, Graham said in a statement with his bill, which was introduced Wednesday.

"No one should be required to pay for an empty hole in the Nevada desert," he said.

South Carolina has seven commercial nuclear reactors that generate about half of its electricity. It also hosts a major installation, the Savannah River Site, where government waste is stored.

Graham's bill has eight Republican co-sponsors. One is Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has said he will introduce a similar nuclear waste amendment.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., sees the bill as evidence that pro-repository senators are throwing in the towel, a spokesman said. Reid "is glad that others have finally accepted the fact that the dump will never be built," aide Jon Summers said.

Analysts said Thursday that, beyond its stated purpose, the bill appears part of a strategy by repository supporters to challenge Obama over the Yucca project or to force his administration to come up quickly with another plan.

"I don't think the intent is to refund the nuclear waste fund so much as it is to force a declaration on Yucca," said Brian McConnell, nuclear waste adviser to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

"It throws down a gauntlet. Either Yucca Mountain is the repository or what?" said Martez Norris, executive director of the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, an organization of local and utility officials from states with nuclear plants.

Norris said Congress is unlikely to pass a bill giving consumers billions of dollars at a time of record deficits. For that reason, "this is not going to go anywhere," she said.

"The decision by the Obama administration to close Yucca Mountain was ill-advised and leaves our nation without a disposal plan for spent nuclear fuel or Cold War waste," Graham said. "It was a political, not scientific, decision. It is incumbent on the Administration to come up with a disposal plan for this real problem facing our nation."

Consumers who receive their power from nuclear plants have been paying a tenth of a cent per kilowatt hour into an account for building a nuclear waste site. The fund has gathered almost $30 billion since 1983. The present balance is $22.6 billion, the Department of Energy said.

The new legislation calls for the president within 30 days to certify that Yucca Mountain remains the site for the development of a repository for high-level waste.

If he refuses, the bill would trigger rebates. Some 75 percent of the fund would be returned to consumers while the rest would be given to utilities for security and storage upgrades at their plants.

It would authorize payments up to $100 million a year to the states that hold nuclear waste generated by the military. About 12,800 tons of such material is stored mostly in South Carolina, Idaho and Washington state.

Obama has declared opposition to burying nuclear waste in Nevada. He has indicated his 2010 budget will make more deep cuts in the project, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said he plans to appoint a commission to develop alternatives.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.