Feds to pay Dairyland $73.5 million in nuclear settlement

Dairyland Power has reached a major settlement with the U.S. Department of Energy over nuclear waste stored from its former nuclear reactor located at the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor in Genoa.

Under terms of the settlement, a federal claims court has approved payment of $73.5 million to Dairyland.

Utilities across the country have sued the federal government for breach of contract to get reimbursed for their nuclear waste expenses linked to spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The federal government is in charge of finding a long-term disposal site for nuclear fuel and had committed to open that site by 1998.

However, no long-term storage site has been opened. Plans to build a permanent disposal site in Nevada at Yucca Mountain were canceled by the Obama administration. The industry is considering alternative disposal options.

Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/energy/2016/10/21/feds-pay-dairyland-735-million-nuclear-settlement/92514596/