Boston, MA 04/29/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) seeks payment for costs related to the management and storage of waste produced from its nuclear operations in Vermont Yankee. The company in what has come to be known as “Round 2” claim is suing the U.S. Department of Energy for failing to comply with contractual agreements regarding the management of nuclear waste.
The latest claim seeks payment for waste management costs from April 2008. The previous claimed was settled in June 2012.
Round 1 settlement results $88 million
In 2008 during which the company took its first aim against DOE over nuclear waste custody, the company argued its case properly and was awarded about $88 million to settle the expenses related to the storage and management of spent nuclear fuel. The settlement also included legal costs related to the pursuit of justice in the case against DOE.
This time around, Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) believes it can still get away with the claim given that the ground on which the earlier settlement was based has not shifted. In any case, many nuclear operators have in recent time aimed at DOE and gotten away with their claims over DOE’s failure to live up to the agreement over nuclear waste custody.
Government stops waste handling
Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) was among the nuclear operators that entered into a contractual agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy back in 1983 in which the government agreed to take care of the wastes resulting from the nuclear activities by the operators. The agreement involved moving of the wastes to a centralized location where long-term disposal would take place. However, somewhere along the way things took a different turn with the government pulling the plug on the waste custody project, mainly due to outrage from locals of the waste disposal area.
However, with more wastes coming and nobody to take care of the wastes, Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) and its peers have found themselves spending much of their profits in handling the wastes. Nonetheless, they believe that they can reclaim their money from the government, and that is why Entergy has taken the Round 2 claim against DOE.
