Yankee Atomic Energy Co. v. United States.

This consolidated appeal is the latest manifestation of the numerous contract disputes arising from the Government’s failure to accept and dispose of radioactive waste from the nation’s nuclear utilities. Specifically, the appeal flows from this court’s decision in Yankee Atomic Electric Co. v. United States, 536 F.3d 1268 (Fed. Cir. 2008), which reversed the United States Court of Federal Claims’ initial damages determination, and remanded for a calculation of damages according to the rate at which the Government was contractually obligated to accept the utilities’ waste. Yankee Atomic Electric Company (Yankee Atomic), Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company (Maine Yankee), and Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company (Connecticut Yankee) (collectively, the Yankees) originally brought this action seeking damages to compensate for the cost of storing spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) beyond the time that the Government promised by contract to begin storing that waste in a permanent and secure repository. On remand, the trial court correctly calculated damages for dry storage construction costs, deferred costs of loading waste to the Department of Energy (DOE), and reracking costs. However, the trial court erred in denying Yankee Atomic’s claim for a portion of its wet pool storage costs and Nu-clear Regulatory Commission (NRC) fees. The trial court therefore awarded $142 million in damages to the utility plaintiffs. The government appealed, arguing that the court’s calculations were based on estimates and speculation, and the utilities appealed the denial of one utility’s wet costs and NRC fees of approximately $17 million. The Federal Circuit ruled that upon remand, the trial court had, in part, misunderstood its task, which was to recalculate the totality of the calculation and not to limit its review to a reexamination of costs previously awarded. The appeals court therefore accepted the utility’s claims of an additional $17 million in damages for wet storage and NRC fees.