29 April 2009 — Most of the U.S.'s $30 billion Nuclear Waste Fund could be repaid to consumers under legislation introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, South Carolina).

Graham introduced the Rebating America's Deposits Act April 23 in response to President Barack Obama's decision to put the Yucca Mountain project on hold. The bill was cosponsored by eight other Republican senators.

If passed, the bill would require the president to either confirm that Yucca Mountain remains the preferred choice for high-level radioactive material disposal or begin to rebate funds in the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund that were set aside to pay for the repository.

Nevada's Yucca Mountain was set to be the disposal site for highly radioactive substances. Companies producing nuclear power paid 0.1 cents per kilowatthour of power generated into the fund beginning in 1982. Since then the total has reached $30 billion.

Obama's February budget ordered the Department of Energy to scale back work at the site to almost nothing while the administration rethinks the country's strategy on nuclear waste disposal.

If the fund was liquidated, some 75 percent of the money would be mandated to go back to customers. The remainder would be allocated to building additional interim used nuclear fuel storage facilities at current nuclear power sites.

Stories of interest:

NRC applies million-year standard to Yucca Mountain