Nuclear savings are wasteful buildup

Since 1982, Minnesota dollars have piled up in an escrow account in Washington D.C. with nothing to show.

Members of the House Energy Finance and Policy Division approved a bill Feb. 25 calling for nearly $600 million to be returned until the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility in Nevada opens for business.

HF894, sponsored by Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights), gained bipartisan approval and moves on to the House Finance Committee. It has no Senate companion.

Atkins said Minnesota’s nuclear power generators have paid $375.9 million to the national government so that nuclear waste from storage facilities such as Red Wing’s Prairie Island plant could be transferred to the Nevada storage facility, which was supposed to be ready in 1998.

“If they’re not going to build it, they should stop charging us,” said Atkins.

Atkins said he is working with Minnesota’s federal delegation, as well as encouraging other states to pass similar legislation. Terry Pickens, Xcel Energy’s director of nuclear regulatory policy, said the company is frustrated by not being able to remove its nuclear waste and supports efforts to enlist the support of other states and national delegates.