SB 446

This bill requires a public utility or other person that uses dry cask storage to

store spent fuel from a nuclear power plant to make annual payments to the city,

village, or town (municipality), and to the county, in which the spent fuel is stored.

As defined under current law, a "nuclear power plant" is a nuclear-fired electric

generating facility with a nominal operating capacity of 100 megawatts or more. The

bill's requirements apply whether or not a nuclear power plant is in operation or

decommissioned. Dry cask storage is a method of storage that the United States

Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows a nuclear power plant to use after the plant

reaches its capacity for on-site storage in water pools. The bill requires a public

utility or other person to pay a municipality $250,000 for each year or portion of the

year the public utility or person uses dry cask storage to store spent fuel in the

municipality. Also, the public utility or person must pay a county $150,000 for each

year or portion of a year that the public utility or person uses dry cask storage to store

spent fuel in the county.

In addition, a public utility or person must pay a municipality $5,000 for each

dry cask for each year or portion of a year that spent fuel is stored in a dry cask in

the municipality. Finally, the bill requires the Public Service Commission to

promulgate rules implementing the bill's requirements and adjusting the payment

amounts described above every five years to account for inflation.