Sixteen utilities and a professional association, has sued the Energy Department to stop the government of the collection of nuclear waste disposal fees. They argued that the nation was no longer available to a plan after the verdict of Yucca Mountain, Nevada as a repository.
The utilities, which the lawsuit filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, jointly pay about $750 million a year, which is equivalent to 1/10 cents per kilowatt-hour, in the fund. It now stands at around $24 billion and earns about $ 1 billion a year in interest.