The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in June spent $17,699 of its remaining available Nuclear Waste Fund balance contesting a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas over the future of the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada.
In total, the regulator used $145,842 of its unexpended Nuclear Waste Fund money last month, according to the latest update sent by NRC Chair Kristine Svinicki to Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The majority of the money, $127,080, was used to meet the commission’s November 2016 directive for staff to update the collection of knowledge management reports that provide technical information to assist in the review of the planned Yucca Mountain storage site, according to the NRC update. The reports were first produced in 2011 as the NRC closed out its evaluation of the Energy Department license application for the repository after the Obama administration halted the project.
“During the month of June, the staff continued updating the collection of knowledge management reports. These reports will cover technical topics in preclosure and postclosure safety assessments, as well as climate and hydrology,” the NRC said.
In total, the update to the knowledge management reports is expected to cost $700,000.
Spending in June brought the agency’s unexpended Nuclear Waste Fund balance to $935,505. But that includes $301,792 in unexpended obligations, which would leave the uncommitted funding level at $633,713.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission had $13.5 million in available money from the Nuclear Waste Fund in 2013 when a federal court ordered it to continue with the licensing process for Yucca Mountain. More than $8.3 million of that was spent on completing the safety evaluation report for the site, with another $1.6 million funding development of a supplement to the Yucca environmental impact statement.
In a federal lawsuit filed in March against the NRC, DOE, and Treasury Department, Texas demanded that the U.S. government complete licensing of the Yucca Mountain repository. The federal agencies have opposed the claim, noting (among various arguments) that the Trump administration already aims to move forward with the site.
The White House’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal calls for providing the NRC with $30 million from the Nuclear Waste Fund, and DOE with $110 million, for Yucca Mountain licensing. House appropriators have supported the request, while their Senate counterparts have offered no money for Yucca.
