Book Description

During 1982, Congress considered legislation to provide for the development of repositories for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. The result of this legislative effort was the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), PL 97-425, signed into law January 7, 1983. An important part of the NWPA was the establishment of special funds in the US Treasury for Waste Disposal and Interim Storage to be financed by user fees to pay for all costs of the program. An initial fee of 1.0 mill per kilowatt-hour was specified. The Secretary was asked to annually review the amount of the fees established ... to evaluate whether collection of the fee will provide sufficient revenues to offset the costs ... In the event of a prospective fee cost mismatch, the Secretary was asked to propose an adjustment to the fee to insure full cost recovery. A series of studies were sponsored by DOE in 1982 to estimate program costs, to calculate the necessary fees to assure cost recovery, and to address uncertainties that could affect future program costs and consequent fee schedules. A brief summary of the 1982 cost estimates is presented. Sources of key cost uncertainties are discussed and the bases for the cost recovery fee calculations are summarized. 17 references, 2 figures, 3 tables.