Cross-country survey on the decommissioning of commercial nuclear reactors: status, insights, and knowledge gaps
Authors: Bärenbold Rebekka , Bah Muhammad Maladoh , Lordan-Perret Rebecca , Steigerwald Björn , von Hirschhausen Christian , Wealer Ben , Weigt Hannes , Wimmers Alexander 
Published: September 2023

Abstract. In the past, nuclear decommissioning has often been
overlooked in the literature but will gain increasing relevance amongst
researchers and industry alike as more and more nuclear power plants reach
the end of their respective operational lifetimes
(Laraia, 2018; Schneider et al., 2022). Existing
research has up until recently focused mostly on technical challenges and
liability issues of nuclear decommissioning, while analyses of the
organization, regulation, and financing across various countries remain
limited. In this cross-country survey paper, we compare the differing
approaches for nuclear decommissioning organization in France, Germany,
Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States based on
detailed country reports (Wimmers et al., 2023). We find that
while, in theory, the countries follow the same standards, the
implementation of responsibilities for nuclear decommissioning, financial
liability, and oversight can differ quite significantly. For example, France
is the only country in our survey to have implemented a centralized
ownership of its nuclear reactor fleet, while all other countries have
multiple operators that necessitate a different regulatory approach. In
terms of financing, we observe that most countries follow a single approach,
while Germany and the UK have different financing schemes depending on the
nuclear reactors to be decommissioned (e.g., the former GDR reactors in East
Germany and the UK's non-PWR (pressurized water reactor) legacy fleet). Based on our analysis, we derive
several insights that merit further research on the topic of nuclear
decommissioning. For example, the interlinkage between ownership and nuclear
decommissioning production should be of particular interest, as we determine
potential organizational models (following the system approach coined by
Beckers et al., 2012) emerging through corporate
actors aiming at the monetization of swift decommissioning – a trend that cannot
be observed where the state is in full control. We further find that only
limited information on decommissioning costs exists. Reducing knowledge gaps
in this regard would help further understand and potentially identify potential challenges in nuclear decommissioning in advance before more
nuclear reactors are shut down. Further insight into nuclear decommissioning
fund adequacy and liability issues might be required to avoid the transfer
of financial liabilities from private operators to taxpayers. Other research
gaps include an analysis of market-based decommissioning approaches and
possible supply chain bottlenecks and the subsequent investigation of
efficiency through economies of scale, the limitation of nuclear
decommissioning production from limited access to nuclear waste management
facilities, and the influence of regulation, e.g., the number of overseeing
regulators, on the production. The paper is based on a joint DFG project between TU Berlin and the
University of Basel, entitled “Best practices for decommissioning nuclear
power plants”.