mandj98's flickr photostream/Creative Commons

Last month, we told you that the Obama administration cut almost all funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility, and mentioned there might be some collatoral issues that go with this decision, as some people won’t be happy with it. Well, we know now one set of “some people” that aren’t thrilled, and are doing something about it.

States that have some nuclear waste sitting around don’t much care for the idea that the place the waste was supposed to go has been shuttered, especially since they, and their residents, have been paying for it for years.

Several legislatures of states with nuclear power plants are considering stopping or reducing payments to the federal government for nuclear waste management until the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nev., repository opens or another solution to the waste problem emerges. [New York Times]

Residents that receive power from nuclear facilities have been, for 27 years now, paying 1/10 a cent per kilowatt hour of electricity into a fund specifically to build a nuclear waste facility. That fund has $30 billion in it. And now the facility isn’t being built.

Maine lawmakers passed a resolution yesterday asking the federal government to immediately reduce fees paid by electricity customers for managing spent nuclear fuel. The resolution also urges the expedited establishment of two federally licensed interim storage facilities that would take possession of the waste and create an independent panel to assess the long-term prospects for handling military and civilian nuclear wastes.

Other states are also revolting, as a verb and not an adjective. Both Minnesota and Michigan want to hold the funds in escrow until the federal government comes up with an alternate plan. It’s an interesting question the Obama administration now faces: what do we do with all this hazmat stuff? I’m pretty sure it doesn’t go away quietly.

And because I’m pretty sure we all have a distorted sense of how nuclear power works, takepart to learn more about it.