(Washington, D.C.) – America’s premier government waste watchdog, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), today blasted a proposal floated yesterday by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson which would siphon money away from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) to underwrite the costs of temporarily storing spent nuclear fuel at 72 sites around the country, rather than moving the fuel to a permanent storage and disposal site, as required by law.

"The Department of Energy (DOE) has tried to pedal this idea off and on for years. It’s a non-starter," said CAGW President Thomas A. Schatz. "The Clinton Administration is desperate to get this battle over the disposal of spent nuclear fuel out of the courts, and engage in direct negotiations with the nations’ utilities. However, the courts have ruled repeatedly that the agency is obligated to move the fuel to a permanent storage facility and that it will be liable for any monetary damages associated with its failure to do so," said Schatz. "The damages could run in excess of $56 billion. This is another S&L crisis waiting to happen."

In testimony yesterday, Secretary Richardson telegraphed his agency’s willingness to accept responsibility for fuel, but said that DOE would do this only in exchange for the states and utilities dropping their lawsuits.

"The Secretary has proposed to misuse the balance of the $15 billion NWF already paid by ratepayers for the construction of a permanent nuclear waste repository to not deal with the spent fuel by leaving it at 72 different sites," quipped Mike McCarthy of the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, a 41-member group of utilities, attorneys general, and utility regulators which opposes the proposal.

"The agency is engaged in its usual obfuscation tactics, trying to delay the inevitable," remarked Schatz. "The cost of future monetary damages will far exceed the cost of complying with its obligations now. This is pure bait and switch. In fact, DOE’s own internal documents made it clear in 1995 that NWF moneys are to be used specifically for the costs of a permanent storage facility. It’s long past time for the DOE to keep its promise and avoid saddling taxpayers with another massive bailout."

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