Decommissioning Costs of WWER-440 Nuclear Power Plants

A large number of the existing nuclear power plants (NNPs) started their operation at the 1970s and 1980s. As the typical design lifetime of a nuclear power reactor is 30 to 40 years, many of these reactors will reach the end of their planned operational period in the coming decade. Utilities operating such reactors have now to consider whether they will replace the NPPs reaching their planned end of life, or refurbish the plants and extend their service life. This very complex problem involves many issues: technical feasibility, economic viability, licensing and public acceptance have to be taken into consideration and carefully analysed. Within this context, the economic assessment of decommissioning plays a significant role. Whilst the decommissioning costs for Western type reactors (PWRs, BWRs) have been relatively well studied, the situation with Soviet-designed reactors (WWERs, RBMKs) is somewhat different. The current publication addresses this need.