ONDRAF assesses nuclear costs as €15 billion

ONDRAF assesses nuclear costs as €15 billion
The cost increase of some 25% over a period of five years may be justified by the increased costs involved in dismantling nuclear installations.

The total costs of decommissioning and management of radioactive waste in Belgium amounts to €15.107 billion. The figures emerge from the Inventory 2013-2017 of Nuclear Liabilities disseminated by ONDRAF (the national agency for radioactive waste and enriched fissile material) on Monday. ONDRAF states that during the previous assessment, covering the period 2008 to 2012, these costs were evaluated at €12.087 billion.

The cost increase of some 25% over a period of five years may be explained by the higher costs involved in dismantling nuclear power stations (an increase of €1.597 billion) and the quantity of spent fuel, which has increased owing to the additional years of nuclear power station operation. The increase in the cost of actual waste management has also contributed to the overall cost increase.

Some 17 nuclear sites, out of the 608 in the country, alone represent 99.6% of this total cost. In particular,  the nuclear power stations of Doel and Tihange appear, as well as the site of Belgoprocess, the industrial subsidiary of ONDRAF.

A margin of 15% which is supposed to cover the hazards and part of the uncertainties “connected to possessing imperfect knowledge of technical data” is integrated into this assessment.

The nuclear costs stated are able to provide an idea of the liabilities in the event of complete dismantling of all Belgian nuclear installations. According to the report the coverage rate, that is to say the reserves to achieve this, reaches 99%.


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