Author(s)

S. Lindskog, A. Cato & R. Sjöblom

Abstract

The future dismantling, decommissioning and associated waste management of nuclear facilities constitute very substantial liabilities worldwide. Legislation and systems are in force in several countries to ensure that funds are available at the time when they are needed and that it is, according to the Polluters Pays Principle, the generations that benefit from the use of the nuclear facilities that also carry the financial burden. This in turn constitutes a number of challenges which warrant proper attention, and which are dealt with in the present paper: how to carry the burden of financing, the need for securing the funds until the time when they are needed, and the need for precision in the cost calculations with regard to a number of factors. The latter includes the approach selected regarding fairness, in the allocation and distribution of the liabilities between generations, the requirements regarding the functioning of the system of finance (sufficient but not superfluous funding) and the quality warranted for the bases for various decisions needed (e.g. potential investment opportunities in new nuclear research reactors and/or nuclear power plant). It is described how sufficiently precise cost calculations might be achieved using appropriate calculation methodologies in combination with radiological characterisation, technology selection and financial uncertainty analysis. Examples are given from authentic Nordic work on fuel cycle laboratory and pilot scale facilities. Keywords: nuclear, decommissioning, decontamination, dismantling, radioactivity, liability, fund, cost calculation, estimate, environmental, legislation.

Keywords

nuclear, decommissioning, decontamination, dismantling,radioactivity, liability, fund, cost calculation, estimate, environmental,legislation.