Former nuke owners sue US government over failure take spent fuel

Washington (Platts)--13Jan2004

Nine former owners of nuclear power plants sued the federal government Tuesday, claiming that the Dept of Energy's failure to begin disposing of utility spent fuel in 1998 drastically reduced sale prices they received for their reactors. Many of the other nuclear utilities that have not yet filed damage claims are expected to do so before the statute of limitations expires Jan 31. The Nuclear Energy Institute has projected total damages could swell to more than $50-bil if all nuclear utilities, including former owners, file.

The government already faces more than 20 claims seeking more than $5.7-bil in damages. The companies that filed the complaints at the US Court of Federal Claims were as follows: Consolidated Edison, former owner/operator of Indian Point; Boston Edison, former owner/operator of Pilgrim; Atlantic City Electric Co., a minority owner in Salem, Peach Bottom, and Hope Creek; Delmarva Power & Light Co., minority owner of Salem and Peach Bottom; and Canal Electric Co., a minority owner in Seabrook. The complaints did not specify damages.

Those amounts will be determined later in court proceedings. The sellers maintained that buyers factored in the uncertainty surrounding the issue of when DOE would remove the waste from the reactor sites, as well as the added cost of prolonged on-site spent fuel storage, into what they were willing to pay for the plants.