{"id":120280,"date":"2026-02-09T05:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/america-cant-duck-and-cover-from-washingtons-nuclear-waste-disposal-failure-120280"},"modified":"2026-02-09T05:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:00:22","slug":"america-cant-duck-and-cover-from-washingtons-nuclear-waste-disposal-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/america-cant-duck-and-cover-from-washingtons-nuclear-waste-disposal-failure-120280","title":{"rendered":"America can\u2019t duck and cover from Washington\u2019s nuclear waste disposal failure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Nuclear energy is hot and everyone wants a piece of the action. President Donald Trump<\/a> has\u00a0announced his vision to quadruple\u00a0America\u2019s nuclear capacity by 2050, and 33 countries signed a\u00a0declaration to triple nuclear capacity\u00a0over the same period.<\/p>\n

Not only are governments clamoring for new nuclear power, but private companies are moving full steam ahead. Tech companies are working to restart\u00a0shuttered plants\u00a0and to\u00a0extend lives and power levels of existing ones. America\u2019s\u00a0largest, oldest and most successful companies\u00a0are moving towards new nuclear energy.<\/p>\n

But a\u00a090,000-ton pot of nuclear waste\u00a0lies at the end of this rainbow and poses problems not for safety but for a significant nuclear energy expansion. First, the federal government collected fees for nuclear waste disposal<\/a> but did not dispose of the waste. Second, because Uncle Sam was assigned responsibility, companies had no incentive to develop disposal solutions.<\/p>\n

TRUMP ADMIN POURS $1B INTO MASSIVE EFFORT TO RESTART NUCLEAR REACTOR AT HISTORIC MELTDOWN SITE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

It is not a safety issue. Nuclear waste, or more accurately, spent nuclear fuel is\u00a0safely stored\u00a0on site at nuclear power plants in secure pools and in dry casks and takes little space. All U.S. spent fuel ever produced would\u00a0fit on a single football field\u00a0stacked 10 yards high, and a few more reactors would add little to the mound.<\/p>\n

However, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act gave the federal government responsibility for disposing of nuclear waste, and it gave Washington until 1998 to start doing its job. To pay, the Energy Department collected fees predominantly from electricity ratepayers\u00a0totaling over $65 billion, including accrued interest. The Department spent $11.5 billion, and the remaining funds held in the Nuclear Waste Fund total over\u00a0$50 billion.<\/p>\n

But the Energy Department has provided no service for these funds, collecting virtually no spent fuel, pouring over $10 billion\u00a0down a hole in Yucca Mountain, a proposed disposal site, without finalizing the system. Nuclear companies left holding waste and paying for storage,\u00a0sued Washington for not meeting\u00a0its contractual obligation \u2014 and won. Now taxpayers are liable for\u00a0$44.5 billion, the cost of the Energy Department\u2019s failure, according to an audit\u00a0conducted for DOE\u2019s Office of Inspector General.<\/p>\n

This liability is paid not from the Energy Department\u2019s budget, but from the government\u2019s\u00a0Judgment Fund, set up to pay for court judgments against the federal government. Under current policy waste is produced, nothing happens to it and taxpayers pay to make everyone financially whole. This decimates any incentive for a real solution.<\/p>\n

TRUMP’S ENERGY PRICE PROMISE IS COMING DUE. HE HAS THE POWER TO SOLVE THE CRISIS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Washington should never have been made responsible for waste management. Even if the system worked perfectly, bureaucrats would have chosen a compulsory waste solution. This rigidity would have undermined incentives for the private sector to innovate by finding more economical ways to manage waste; reactors that produce more efficient waste streams; or value from spent fuel. Today\u2019s firms have pioneered such technologies, but if there is no demand for waste management services, the value of these technologies cannot be captured or even measured.<\/p>\n

President Trump\u2019s executive order\u00a0Reinvigorating The Nuclear Industrial Base\u00a0may break this stalemate. In compliance with the order, the Energy Department has issued a\u00a0request for information\u00a0from states “interested in hosting potential Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses.” These campuses would house nuclear energy hubs that would include all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including spent fuel management.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Three reasons for optimism and innovation exist. First, the request asks states to self-identify as interested hosts \u2014 in contrast to the current broken system, which used political processes to identify the host state. Second, the request requires private sector leadership, imperative for any successful plan. Finally, although the request provides substantial detail on desired commercial activities, these are only guidelines and the Department is open to other proposals. This leaves a lot of room for innovative thinking<\/a> on how to solve the problem.<\/p>\n

RAPID RISE OF AI PUTS NEW URGENCY ON CONGRESS TO UNLEASH AMERICAN ENERGY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

It is not only government seeking solutions. Former Nuclear Regulatory Chair Allison MacFarlane and former acting director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Lake Barrett recently issued a new nonpartisan report,\u00a0The Path Forward for Nuclear Waste in the U.S., laying out a strategy for moving nuclear waste policy forward. Full disclosure: I was a contributor.<\/p>\n

The report suggests plans to realign responsibilities for nuclear waste management, ensuring that the money collected for nuclear waste disposal gets spent on its intended purpose. The report provides flexibility to meet today\u2019s and tomorrow\u2019s growing disposal needs by holding the federal government responsible for its current obligations and allowing for new systems. Lastly, the report recognizes the need for permanent geologic storage but also allows for other technologies and approaches.<\/p>\n

For the first time in decades, Washington is signaling<\/a> that it may untangle the policy failures that have paralyzed nuclear waste management. The Path Forward report outlines a workable strategy, but success now depends on states and private firms stepping up where the federal government has fallen short.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If we want abundant clean energy and a thriving nuclear industry, we must replace bureaucratic stagnation with competition, innovation, and genuine accountability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/america-cant-duck-cover-from-washingtons-nuclear-waste-disposal-failure <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nuclear energy is hot and everyone wants a piece of the action. President Donald Trump has\u00a0announced his vision to quadruple\u00a0America\u2019s nuclear capacity by 2050, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-120280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAmerica can\u2019t duck and cover from Washington\u2019s nuclear waste disposal failure - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/america-cant-duck-and-cover-from-washingtons-nuclear-waste-disposal-failure-120280\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"America can\u2019t duck and cover from Washington\u2019s nuclear waste disposal failure - Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nuclear energy is hot and everyone wants a piece of the action. 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