Costs of Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants · The cost of managing SNF is not always included in the cost of decommissioning. To make cost estimates more transparent over time,

© 2016 Nuclear Energy Agency © 2016 Nuclear Energy Agency/OECD/Paris, France

Costs of Decommissioning

Nuclear Power Plants

“International Conference on

Financing of Decommissioning”

Stockholm, Sweden

20-21 September 2016

Geoffrey Rothwell, PhD, Principal Economist

Division of Nuclear Development,

Nuclear Energy Agency, OECD

[email protected]

Nuclear Energy Agency

© 2016 Nuclear Energy Agency/OECD/Paris, France

NEA (2016). Costs of Decommissioning

Nuclear Power Plants. Paris: OECD.

2

This NEA study’s aim is to review NPP

decommissioning costs and funding

practices adopted by NEA member

countries, based on the collection and

analysis of survey data gathered via a

dedicated questionnaire.

The work has been done with the NEA’s

Radioactive Waste Management

Committee (RWMC) and its standing

groups: the Working Party on

Decommissioning and Dismantling

(WPDD) and Decommissioning Cost

Estimation Group (DCEG). We also had

close co-operation with the IAEA and the

European Commission.

https://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdf

https://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdfhttps://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdfhttps://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdfhttps://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdfhttps://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdfhttps://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdfhttps://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdfhttps://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdfhttps://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdfhttps://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7201-costs-decom-npp.pdf


What is “decommissioning”?

3

Decontamination

Decontamination &

Demolition (D&D)

D&D plus all waste

management costs

(including or not

Spent Nuclear Fuel)

US NRC

EC (ISDC)

+ Site Restoration


History of NEA D&D Cost Reports

4

NEA Report of 1986: 6 Countries

NEA Report of 1991: 9 Countries – 9 data points


– updated 2013 USD (2001 USD x 1.44 – Producer Price Index) http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-

plants_9789264104334-en

PWRs: 300 to 700 USD/kWe – av. 460 USD/kWe (see p. 59)

VVERs: 300 to 700 USD/kWe – av. 475 USD/kWe (see p. 60)

BWRs: 450 to 800 USD/kWe – av. 600 USD/kWe (see p. 61)


PWRs: 4 sets of estimated costs (3 of which are generic)

VVERs: 2 sets for VVERs

BWRs: 3 sets (one generic estimate)

GCRs/Magnox: “11 sets” (UK NDA Magnox fleet/GCR in Spain)

mailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-enmailto:http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/nuclear-energy/decommissioning-nuclear-power-plants_9789264104334-en


International Structure for

Decommissioning Costing in ISDC

5

ISDC COST ITEM (ISDC was produced by NEA with the EC and the IAEA)

http://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/reports/2012/ISDC-nuclear-installations.pdf

01 PRE, Pre-decommissioning

02 SHUT, Facility shutdown

03 ENCLO, Additional activities for safe enclosure

04 DISM, Dismantling activities within the controlled area (aggregate into “D&D”)

05 WASTE, Waste processing, storage & disposal ( aggregate into “WASTE” )

06 INFRA, Site infrastructure and operation (aggregate into “MANAGE”)

07 DEMO, Conventional dismantling demolition and site restoration (aggregate into “D&D”)

08 PM, Project management, engineering & site support (aggregate into “MANAGE”)

09 R&D, Research and development

10 FUEL, Fuel and nuclear material

11 MISC, Miscellaneous expenditures

TOTAL

http://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/reports/2012/ISDC-nuclear-installations.pdfhttp://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/reports/2012/ISDC-nuclear-installations.pdfhttp://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/reports/2012/ISDC-nuclear-installations.pdfhttp://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/reports/2012/ISDC-nuclear-installations.pdfhttp://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/reports/2012/ISDC-nuclear-installations.pdfhttp://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/reports/2012/ISDC-nuclear-installations.pdfhttp://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/reports/2012/ISDC-nuclear-installations.pdf


Outcome of the Survey

6

Per PLANT SITE - ISDC Level 1 Categories:

(millions of 2013 USD)

NEA. Costs of Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants (2016)

0.0

200.0

400.0

600.0

800.0

1000.0

1200.0

1400.0

1600.0

ES-P1 ES-P2 CH-P1 FR-P1 ES-B1 ES-B2 SE-B1 F1-V1 SK-V1


Aggregated Outcomes

7

Percentages of ISDC Level 1 Categories:

NEA. Costs of Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants (2016)

22%

43%

12%

50%

29%

43%

62%

44%

29%

4%

5%

10%

19%

6%

8%

10%

8%

29%

46%

44%

33%

14%

55%

41%

23%

5%

29%

28%

7%

46%

17% 11%

7% 5%

42%

13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

ES-P1 ES-P2 CH-P1 FR-P1 ES-B1 ES-B2 SE-B1 FI-V1 SK-V1

ISDC 04+07 ISDC 05 ISDC 08+06 Others


Compare with US Cost Estimates

8

With the lack of observations, we turned to the US data as presented in a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) report done for the US NRC, but never published!

Assessment of the Adequacy of the 10 CFR 50.75(c) Minimum Decommissioning Fund Formula

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1306/ML13063A190.pdf

‐ Completed costs for 4 decommissioned NPPs

‐ Site-specific estimates for several NPPs - PWRs & BWRs (shut down or approaching retirement)

Compatibility and comparability with ISDC? ‐ Different structures for cost allocation:

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

‐ Therefore, we hired a consultant to work out the correspondence between WBS and ISDC

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1306/ML13063A190.pdf


Converting US D&D Data to ISDC

9

The D&D cost estimation data presented in PNNL (2011)

are based on a WBS from two different D&D cost

estimation companies.

We applied the conversion method to a limited number of

cases, covering many possible combinations: for example,

PWR and BWR, and immediate and deferred dismantling.

Converted ISDC data were then used to calculate

percentage distributions of D&D costs for

• (1) cost estimates and

• (2) actual cost data for accomplished projects as presented

in the PNNL report for four cases:

Haddam Neck, Trojan, Main Yankee and Rancho Seco.


US Cost estimates vs Actual Costs

10

Estimates for Immediate D&D

LS U1 La Salle Unit 1

LS U2 La Salle Unit 2

CP U1 Comanche Peak Unit 1

CP U2 Comanche Peak Unit 2

DA Duane Arnold

KW Kewaunee

“Completed” Projects

HNP Haddam Neck

HNP Haddam Neck (“revised”)

MY Main Yankee = $500M

TNP Trojan NPP

RS Rancho Seco NPP

ISDC 04+07 (D&D), ISDC 05 (Waste) and ISDC 06+08 (Management)

for converted data and reformatted data for “completed” projects

$0

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

$700

$800

$900

$1,000

LS U1 LS U2 CP U1 CP U2 DA KW HNP HNP-R MY TNP RS

06+08

05

04+07

RPV to Hanford

DOC Bankrupt


Conclusions Regarding Cost Drivers

11

Pre-decommissioning costs:

To encourage early planning, these should be paid for out of

decommissioning funds.

Cost of managing Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF):

The cost of managing SNF is not always included in the cost of

decommissioning. To make cost estimates more transparent

over time, these should not be included in decommissioning

cost estimates.

Immediate versus deferred D&D:

The selection of immediate versus deferred decommissioning,

is primary factor influencing the overall costs of D&D and

limits the validity of quantitative comparisons between cost

estimates.


Conclusions Regarding Funding

12

Funding Policy and Strategy:

There are considerable variations between countries in the details

of formal funding requirements. To increase comparability,

countries should try to standardize funding requirements, e.g.,

Germany and Sweden, where utilities share ownership in many

nuclear power plants.

During operation:

Regular updating of decommissioning cost estimates is an

important prerequisite for establishing adequate funds for future

decommissioning.

Nonetheless, decommissioning funding arrangements may still be

vulnerable to the failure of a fund to reach a sufficient level of

financing to cover the full actual costs of decommissioning, e.g.,

due to earlier than expected closure.

Therefore, it is better to collect more funds early, and less funds

later, if they are not necessary.

Documents

Costs of Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants · The cost of managing SNF is not always included in the cost of decommissioning. To make cost estimates more transparent over time,