Omaha Public Power District v. United States

69 Fed. Cl. 237, 61 ERC (BNA) 1743, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 353, 2005 WL 3216929
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedNovember 30, 2005
DocketNo. 01-115C
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 69 Fed. Cl. 237 (Omaha Public Power District v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Omaha Public Power District v. United States, 69 Fed. Cl. 237, 61 ERC (BNA) 1743, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 353, 2005 WL 3216929 (uscfc 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

BRADEN, Judge.

BACKGROUND

In 1982, Congress enacted the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, (“NWPA”) that required the Government to accept responsibility and provide for the timely disposition of commercial SNF and HLW. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 10101, et. seq. Pursuant thereto, the Government assumed the legal duty to “provide for the permanent disposal” of SNF and HLW from utilities across the country by providing for [238]*238the long-term storage of such material. See 42 U.S.C. § 10131(a)(4) (“Congress finds that ... the Federal Government has the responsibility to provide for the permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste and such spent nuclear fuel as may be disposed in order to protect the public health and safety and the environment[.]”). Congress, however, imposed the cost of acceptance and disposal on SNF and HLW “generators” and “owners.” See 42 U.S.C. § 10131(a)(4) (“Congress finds that ... the costs of such disposal should be the responsibility of the generators and owners of such waste and spent fuel.”).

In order to meet this Congressional mandate, the Department of Energy (“DOE” or “the Government”) prepared the Standard Contract to establish reciprocal obligations of the parties. See 10 C.F.R. § 961.11 (setting forth “the text of the [SJtandard [C]ontract for disposal of spent nuclear fuel and/or high-level radioactive waste[.]”). Accordingly, the Standard Contracts provided that, in return for the payment of fees from a utility, the Government would commence disposal of SNF and HLW, no later than January 31, 1998, and continue such services until disposal of all SNF and HLW was completed. See 42 U.S.C. § 10222(a)(5)(B) (“[I]n return for the payment of fees, the Secretary, beginning not later than January 31, 1998, will dispose of the high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel[.]”); see also 10 C.F.R. § 961.11 (“The services to be provided by DOE under this contract shall begin, after commencement of facility operations, not later than January 31, 1998 and shall continue until such time as all SNF and/or HLW from the civilian nuclear power reactors ... has been disposed of.”).

RELEVANT FACTS1

Omaha Public Power District (“Plaintiff’) is a public corporation and political subdivision of the State of Nebraska. See Compl. 112. Plaintiff is the owner and operator of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station, located approximately 20 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska. Id. The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station has generated and continues to generate spent nuclear fuel (“SNF”) and high level nuclear waste (“HLW”) that are stored at the plant site. Id.

On June 30, 1983, Plaintiff entered into a Standard Contract (“the Contract”) with the Government. See Compl. ¶ 9. Pursuant to the Contract, the Government was required to commence disposal of SNF and HLW generated by Plaintiff before January 31, 1998, and Plaintiff was to pay fees into a Nuclear Waste Fund. See Compl. ¶ 7. The fees paid by Plaintiff, and other utilities that had entered into an identical Standard Contracts with the Government, were supposed to cover DOE’s costs for disposing of the SNF and HLW. Id.

Plaintiff alleges that, despite continually satisfying obligations under the Contract, having paid approximately $76.2 million into the Nuclear Waste Fund and continuing to pay fees of approximately $3.5 million per year, the Government has failed to meet obligations under the Contract. See Compl. ¶¶ 9, 10, 21. Plaintiff also alleges that although the Contract called for the Government to begin removal of SNF and HLW by January 31, 1998, the Government did not commence performance on that date or by the date of the filing of this case. See Compl. ¶ 19. Moreover, the Government has not provided Plaintiff with a date certain on which it will begin disposal. Id.; see also Final Interpretation of Nuclear Waste Acceptance Issues, 60 FED. REG. 21,793, 21,-794 (May 3, 1995) (“DOE currently projects that the earliest possible date for acceptance of waste for disposal at a repository is 2010.”). The Government previously argued that its failure to meet the January 31, 1998 deadline to dispose of SNF and HLW was excused because the delay was unavoidable. See Indiana Michigan Power Co. v. Dept. of Energy, 88 F.3d 1272, 1274 (D.C.Cir.1996) (“DOE concluded that it did not have an unconditional statutory or contractual obligation to accept high-level waste and spent [239]*239fuel beginning January 31, 1998 in the absence of a repository or interim storage facility constructed under the NWPA.”) (citing 60 FED. REG. at 21, 793-94). The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, however, held that the contracts to dispose of SNF and HLW between the. Government and utilities, created “an obligation in DOE, reciprocal to the utilities’ obligation to pay, to start disposing of the SNF no later than January 31, 1998.” Indiana Michigan Power Co., 88 F.3d at 1277. Furthermore, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Northern States Power, issued a writ of mandamus precluding DOE from arguing that its failure to meet the January 31, 1998 deadline was unavoidable. See N. States Power Co. v. United States, 128 F.3d 754, 760 (D.C.Cir. 1997) (holding that “petitioners’ ability to enforce the contract would be frustrated if DOE were allowed to operate under a construction of the contract inconsistent with our prior conclusion that the NWPA imposes an [unconditional] obligation on DOE[.]”).

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff filed a Complaint in the United States Court of Federal Claims on March 2, 2001. The case was assigned to the Honorable Lynn J. Bush. Count One alleged that the Government partially breached the Contract by failing to commence to disposal of SNF and HLW by January 31, 1998. See Compl. ¶¶ 23-24.

Count Two alleged that the Government breached an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by: (1) failing and refusing to make an effort to meet the January 31, 1998 deadline; (2) attempting to avoid its obligations as defined by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; (3) failing to make any effort to dispose of Plaintiffs SNF and HLW or to provide Plaintiff with a firm date on which disposal will begin; and (4) by continuing to insist that Plaintiff meet its obligation under the Contract, without reciprocity. See Compl. ¶ 27.

Count Three alleged that the Government’s failure to dispose of the SNF and HLW constitutes an unlawful taking of Plaintiffs vested contract and real property rights.2 See Compl. ¶ 33.

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69 Fed. Cl. 237, 61 ERC (BNA) 1743, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 353, 2005 WL 3216929, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/omaha-public-power-district-v-united-states-uscfc-2005.