Decommissioning Costs And British Nuclear Policy

The topic of decommissioning ecommics is not an isolated activity. As Gordon MacKerron shows in this chapter, decommissioning economics are linked to other, often national considerations. The advanced age of the British reactors, plus the government's desire to privatize the entire electrical utility industry, brought decommissioning to the front of public debate unexpectedly early in Britain. As decommissioning estimates have come under closer attention, they have tended to rise from early estimates. Today, the estimated costs are much higher than in the U.S. So far, the funds for this activity are only paper provisions. It appears that one source of higher costs will be increased regulatory requirements. Thus, nonengineering factors are beginning to affect decommissioning costs, as they have other nuclear costs in Britain and elsewhere. MacKerron concludes that the final costs of decommissioning are likely to be higher than estimated originally.