Sec. 16-19q. Decommissioning costs. Liability. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 16-19q. Decommissioning costs. Liability. (a) If the funds allocated for decommissioning are insufficient to pay for decommissioning costs, the licensee shall first be responsible for the additional cost if it is the only holder of an operating permit from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission with respect to the facility.

      (b) If the assets of such a licensee are insufficient to cover the remaining cost of decommissioning after such funds are exhausted, or if there are two or more holders of an operating permit from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission with respect to the facility, the owners shall be liable for the safe and proper decommissioning of the nuclear power generating facility in accordance with their respective ownership shares in the facility. If, under this subsection, any in-state owner pays decommissioning costs in excess of its ownership share in the facility, that owner shall have a cause of action to recover that excess from the other owners. The Attorney General shall assist in bringing such an action.

      (c) The state shall have no financial responsibility for decommissioning. If the Governor finds that, because of inadequate action by the responsible parties in carrying out decommissioning, protective action is reasonably required to protect the public health and safety, the state may undertake that action. In that case, the Attorney General shall bring action against the licensee and the owners to recover the cost of that protective action. If the state pays for any decommissioning costs as a result of an owner paying less than its share of a facility's decommissioning costs, the Attorney General shall bring an action against such owner to recover any such costs paid by the state.

      (P.A. 83-343, S. 5; P.A. 98-28, S. 56, 117.)

      History: P.A. 98-28 deleted Subsec. (d) concerning inclusion of decommissioning costs in rates, effective January 1, 2000.