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Federal Court Awards Damages to Utility by Associated Press Seattle Times, March 1, 2010

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A federal court has awarded a Northwest utility nearly $57 million in damages from the federal government for breach of contract involving the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository.

Energy Northwest of Richland, Wash., operates the Columbia Generating Station, the only commercial nuclear plant in the Northwest.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims already had ruled that the Energy Department was in breach of contract by failing to begin accepting used nuclear fuel from the plant. The court awarded Energy Northwest the damages on Friday.

Nevada has long fought the proposed Yucca Mountain repository, and the Obama administration has said it doesn't see a future for it.

Energy Northwest says in a statement that if the court order stands, it will offset the cost to build a storage area for the used fuel.