Nevada has NEVER asked for compensation!  The state has refused to negotiate for any kind of economic benefits.

Our main goal is to change the current plan at Yucca to include a recycling and research center that will bring billions of dollars to the state in research and technology funding and manufacturing jobs.   We don't think our state should negotiate for "compensation" for the existing plan, but negotiate to include Yucca as part of a national plan to address the recycling of spent nuclear fuel. 

But that said, we have heard time and again from elected leaders that there is no “pot of money" for Nevada. But to date, Nevada has refused to negotiate.

There IS a “pot of money." The Nuclear Waste Trust Fund is currently over $20 billion and growing.  It receives $750 million each year from the users of nuclear power, and another $720 million a year in interest.  

Of the annual contribution of $1.4 billion, only about $200 million is spent.

This fund is adequate to cover the total life cycle cost for Yucca, which is estimated at $96.18 billion in constant 2007 dollars (through 2133).  Most of that $100 billion will be spent in Nevada. 

Congress can allocate additional funding, as Senator Inhofe (R-Okla.) tried to do last year with an amendment to provide Nevada with $500 million a year in return for hosting the repository. 

The law also says that, “The Secretary, in siting Federal research projects, shall give special consideration to proposals from States where a repository is located.”

Section 117 says the DOE shall provide impact assistance that includes over 50 specific items, including, “facilities and personnel for elementary and secondary schools, community colleges, vocational and technical schools and universities; transportation, including any roads, terminals, airports, bridges, or railways associated with the facility; tourism and economic development, including the potential loss of revenue and future economic growth.

Opponents say there is only money for mitigation, but they are wrong. They also say that since there is no “Nuclear Negotiator” any more, there is no way to negotiate. That is wrong.   The act provides many options for Nevada to negotiate for compensation, but they have refused to do so.

And then there's the concept of a Nevada Nuclear Trust Fund that would provide funding directly to Nevadans, similar to Alaska.  Just as Alaskans are compensated for helping supply the US with oil, Nevadans should be compensated for solving the US's nuclear spent fuel issue.