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| NEC › Issues › Energy & Environment › Nuclear Waste | ||
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Nuclear WasteThe New England Council supports the Federal Government's efforts to establish a central, federal, nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel from the nation's commercial nuclear power facilities. In 1982, the Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which required the Department of Energy to safely and permanently dispose of spent nuclear fuel no later than January 1998. The Act also created the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund, which required ratepayers, through their electricity bills, to pay for the safe transportation and disposal of spent nuclear fuel. New England has nine nuclear power facilities. Four of these facilities are permanently shut down or are in the process of being completely decommissioned and the site dismantled. Spent nuclear fuels at these sites are currently being stored temporarily in dry-cask storage and waiting removal to a central nuclear federal repository. Additionally, the region has paid over $1.5 billion into the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund for the removal and disposal of spent fuel. The New England Council is actively working with the New England Congressional delegation to ensure that the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository is fully funded and will open by its projected 2010 deadline so that the Department of Energy can begin to meet its obligations under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. Advocacy:
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