Abstract
While more and more nuclear installations facing the end of their lifetime, decommissioning financing issues gain importance in political discussions. The financing needs are huge along the Uranium value chain. Following the polluter pays principle the operator of a nuclear installation is expected to accumulate all the necessary decommissioning funds during the operating life of its facility. However, since decommissioning experience is still limited, since the decommissioning process can take several decades and since the time period between the shutdown of a nuclear installation and the final disposal of radioactive waste can be very long, there are substantial risks that costs will be underestimated and that the liable party and the funds accumulated might not be available anymore when decommissioning activities have to be paid. Nevertheless, these financing risks can be reduced by the implementation of transparent, restricted, well-governed decommissioning financing schemes, with a system of checks and balances that aims at avoiding negative effects stemming from conflicts of interests.
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Irrek, W. (2019). Financing Nuclear Decommissioning. In: Haas, R., Mez, L., Ajanovic, A. (eds) The Technological and Economic Future of Nuclear Power. Energiepolitik und Klimaschutz. Energy Policy and Climate Protection. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-25987-7_7
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