Nuclear power has many advocates, but disposal of nuclear waste is still a matter of concern and disagreement. In the latest development of a longstanding contract dispute, a federal appeals court reversed and remanded a trio of cases concerning damages owed to nuclear utilities as a result of the government's failure to build a nuclear-waste facility.

The appeals court said the court of Federal Claims didn't properly calculate the damages awarded. As such it voided $42.8 million in damages awarded to PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric utility, $39.8 million to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and $142.8 million to three former New England nuclear-plant operators.

"PG&E is very pleased with the court decision, because it basically (supports) our argument that the damages were improperly calculated," said Pete Resler, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based utility company.

PG&E Corp. unit Pacific Gas & Electric owns and operates the 2,100-megawatt Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant near San Luis Obispo, California. With nowhere else to store its waste, the company is building a new storage facility at the nuclear plant site.

After PG&E determines what the damages would be under the court's new calculation, it will decide how to proceed, Resler said. PG&E's initial claim, filed in 1998, covered costs through 2004. The company is likely to ask for damages that cover costs for additional years, Resler said.

Yankee Atomic Electric Co., Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co. and Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co. also constructed a storage facility to store waste and modified other storage facilities. The three companies, which were created by consortiums of utility firms to operate nuclear power plants in New England, have ceased producing nuclear power.

The firms had sought compensation for having to store spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste since 1990, past the deadline by which the US Department of Energy (DOE) had agreed to make a permanent nuclear waste storage facility available.

The designated storage site, at Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert, has been mired in delays due to legal challenges, allegations of faulty data included in a scientific review of the site, and opposition from Nevada officials.

After the federal claims court made its decisions on damages, the utilities appealed, saying the court didn't use the right measurement in calculating the awards.

All the utilities paid fees to the DOE's Nuclear Waste Fund beginning in 1983 under a contract that required the DOE to begin accepting fuel for storage by 31 January 1998. The government didn't meet that deadline and has yet to accept the waste. There is no official date set for opening the Yucca Mountain facility.

The DOE filed its application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its Yucca Mountain repository license just two months ago. Earlier this week, the agency estimated the repository would cost $96.2 billion through 2133, when the repository would be sealed, more than two-thirds over its last estimate in 2001. Excluding inflation, the new estimate increased 38 per cent to $79.3 billion.

The Energy Department said the increased costs are due to more than $16 billion in inflation and a 30 per cent increase in the amount of nuclear waste that will need to be disposed of at the site.

In addition, the department it is going to cost more than previously expected to dispose of the fuel based on an updated design of the facility. Despite the rise in costs, the department is not proposing a change in the fees paid by nuclear utilities for waste disposal.