Management and Disposal of High-Level Nuclear Waste
What funding is available for storage or disposal
of nuclear waste?
The NWPA established a Nuclear Waste Fund composed of fees levied against nuclear-
electric utilities to pay for the costs of constructing and operating a permanent repository.
This fund has grown to $43 billion (FY 2017).
The Act authorizes a schedule of financial benefits which states are entitled to if hosting a
DOE-operated interim storage facility, or MRS. These include:
$5 million a year during startup and construction
$10 million a year once wastes are accepted
States are required to transfer no less than 1/3 of the financial benefits to local governments.
There is no federally authorized direct payment to states for non-DOE storage facilities, such
as privately owned or state-owned facilities.
The NWPA also provides funding and technical assistance for training public safety officials
to states and tribes whose jurisdictions would be traversed by shipments of spent fuel to a
storage or disposal facility. These funds are only for the DOE facilities.
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