Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Nuclear Waste Fund fee adequacy: an assessment. Second annual report

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6433239· OSTI ID:6433239

This is the second report of an annual series that evaluates whether the revenues collected from the waste disposal fees established under Section 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-425) are sufficient to offset the federal government's costs for the disposal of commercially generated spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste. Nuclear wastes produced from defense activities are not considered in this report. The principal findings of this year's analysis are: The current 1.0 mill per kilowatt-hour (kWh) fee is projected to produce revenues sufficient to offset total system life cycle costs associated with the cases specified later in the report, assuming that the average annual rate of inflation does not exceed 2 to 3%. Higher average annual rates of inflation, or unanticipated real cost growth, would cause cumulative program costs to approach and then surpass cumulative revenues generated from the current 1.0 mill per kWh fee. Based on an analysis of different inflation rates and program cost growth projections discussed herein, indexing of the fee to correct for inflation would not need to begin until 1985, at the earliest, or perhaps as late as the year 2000. There is substantial uncertainty about both the program cost and revenue projections. However, more reliable data are expected to become available in the late 1980s as the program evolves from its present conceptual design phase to the engineering phase. Hence, any recommendation to raise the 1.0 mill per kWh fee before that time should be measured against the uncertainties that attend the present program. 4 references, 4 tables.

Research Organization:
USDOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Washington, DC
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
6433239
Report Number(s):
DOE/NBM-5000440; ON: DE85000440
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English