Customers who use nuclear power pay for the disposal of spent fuel. The federal government collects a fee of one mil (one-tenth of a cent) per kilowatt-hour of nuclear-generated electricity from utilities.

This money goes into the Nuclear Waste Fund. As of December 31, 2008, payments and interest credited to the Fund totalled $29.6 billion.

The Department of Energy receives money from the Nuclear Waste Fund through congressional appropriations.

Broken down by state, the top five contributors to the Nuclear Waste Fund are:

• Illinois: $1.7 billion
• Pennsylvania: $1.5 billion
• South Carolina: $1.2 billion
• North Carolina: $821 million
• California: $812 million

*Does not include one-time fees paid by utilities.

Contributions from all states are listed here.

This graph below shows OCRWM budget requests in blue, the actual congressional appropriation in yellow, and the yearly fees and interest credited to the Nuclear Waste Fund in red.

Monthly Financial and Budget Summary