The accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl have demonstrated the dangers of the nuclear power experiment, but the true costs of these disasters have yet to be totaled. In the Soviet Union, as many as half a million deaths from cancer and tens of billions of dollars in financial losses will be only part of the legacy of a moment's error at one reactor. Decommissioning Nuclear reactor installations are designed to produce power for 40 years, though none has yet reached that age and several have closed much earlier. After years of operation, the reactor and other equipment will have become so radioactive that the entire plant will have to be closed with much of it needing treatment as radioactive waste. The technology for safe decommissioning does not yet exist, but even if it did, the question of who will pay the costs would remain.
Funds established by utility companies are likely to prove inadequate.
Several of the reactors in New England, including the recently shut down Yankee Rowe reactor, are owned by companies with no other major assets. These would have good reasons to go quietly into bankruptcy, leaving states with the headache, expense and liability of permanent care. Radioactive Wastes Stockpiles of radioactive wastes, mostly from nuclear power reactors, continue to grow. Therefore, current efforts remain mired in engineering and political quicksand.