DOE asks court to defer costs of spent fuel delivery delay

Washington

1Mar2004

The federal government asked a court to disregard future spent fuel costs to the nuclear industry resulting from DOE's failure to meet a contractual obligation to begin removing nuclear waste from reactor sites by 1998.

The request was filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims Feb. 27; a hearing began today on the first of more than 50 lawsuits involving the costs of on-site storage.

"All of these speculative costs shouldn't be things the court has to resolve here," Harold Lester, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney representing the government, argued.  Rather, he said, utilities should file claims for long-term damages after a nuclear repository is opened and the cost of DOE's contractual breach becomes known.

Lester called untrue suggestions that DOE attempted to reduce the cost of utilities' legal claims by setting a 2010 target date for opening Yucca Mountain and disputed claims that the real opening date would be closer to 2016. Judge Robert Hodges said the court would proceed with the two-week hearing and address later the issue of future damages.