D.C. Circuit Denies Rehearing On Nuclear Waste Fee Decision

The D.C. Circuit last week denied the Department of Energy's (DOE) petition for en banc review of the court's November decision holding that the DOE could not continue to collect nuclear waste fees from utilities.  The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) filed suit after the DOE's termination of the Yucca Mountain repository program in 2010.  The organizations argued that the DOE could not continue to collect the fee from utilities if it did not have a waste management plan in place.  Last fall, the D.C. Circuit agreed and held that the DOE could not continue to collect the nuclear waste fee of one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour.