Nuclear Utility Assessments
Regulations
Cases
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 established a Fund in the Treasury of the
United States (42 U.S.C. s2297g). Amounts on deposit in the Fund are available
to the Secretary of Energy, subject to appropriations, for D&D and remedial
action activities at DOE's uranium enrichment facilities and for reimbursement
of uranium and thorium licensees for certain costs of D&D, reclamation, and
other remedial actions incurred by licensees at active uranium or thorium
processing sites, as specified in Title X of the EPACT (42 U.S.C. s2296a et
seq.). The Act provides that amounts in the Fund be invested by the Secretary
of the Treasury in obligations of the United States. The Act also requires the
Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of Energy, to
report to Congress annually on the financial condition and operations of the
Fund.
The Act provides that the Fund shall consist of annual deposits of $480
million per fiscal year, to be annually adjusted for inflation using the
Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers (CPI-U)(42
U.S.C. s2297g-1(a)). Deposits to the Fund are required to include a Special
Assessment on domestic utilities not to exceed $150 million per fiscal year
(adjusted for inflation using the CPI-U). Section 1802 also authorizes
appropriations to be deposited into the Fund in the amount necessary to ensure
that the total annual amount of $480 million (adjusted for inflation using the
CPI-U) is deposited (42 U.S.C. s2297g-1(b)). The amount collected from each
domestic utility for the Special Assessment shall be in the same ratio to the
total amount to be deposited in the Fund, for each fiscal year, as the total
amount of separative work units (SWUs) the utility has purchased from DOE for
the purpose of commercial electricity generation, prior to the date of
enactment of the EPACT (October 24, 1992), bears to the total amount of SWUs
purchased from DOE for all purposes, including units purchased or produced for
defense purposes, prior to October 24, 1992 (42 U.S.C. s2297g-1(c)).
Collection of the Special Assessment is authorized as of the date of
enactment of the EPACT (October 24, 1992), and shall continue for a period of
the earlier of 15 years or until $2.25 billion (adjusted for inflation using
the CPI-U) has been collected (42 U.S.C. s2297g-1(e)). A Special Assessment
levied on domestic utilities is deemed by the Act to be a necessary and
reasonable current cost of fuel, fully recoverable in a utility's rates in the
same manner as other fuel costs (42 U.S.C. s2297 g-1(g)).
Section 1803 provides that the National Academy of Sciences shall conduct a
study and provide recommendations for reducing the costs associated with
D&D of the Department's uranium enrichment facilities, and report its
finding to Congress within 3 years after the date of the enactment of EPACT (42
U.S.C. s 2297g-2(a)). This section specifies that the costs of D&D
activities are to be paid from the Fund until such time as the Secretary of
Energy certifies, and the Congress concurs, that the activities are complete
(42 U.S.C. s2297g-2(b)). This section also specifies that the annual costs of
remedial action at DOE's uranium enrichment facilities shall be paid from the
Fund to the extent the amount available in the Fund is sufficient (42 U.S.C. s
2297g-2(c)).
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