The Economics of Tearing Down Reactors - Where We Are Today in Decommissioning Costs 2025

The Economics of Tearing Down Reactors - Where We Are Today in Decommissioning Costs 2025

The cost of decommissioning a nuclear power plant now represents a huge economic area. Countries around the world spend tens to hundreds of billions of yen for the decommissioning of a single reactor, with the range varying widely depending on details such as the size and location of the reactor, the number of years of power generation, and the destination of radioactive waste. The technology for dismantling the core is particularly sophisticated, and when one considers the years of radiation control, it is clear that decommissioning is not simply a matter of dismantling steel and concrete, but a national project that brings together experts and funds over a long period of time.

On the other hand, the decommissioning of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is a much more difficult task than the usual decommissioning of nuclear power plants. The decommissioning process is extremely complicated because the plant is an accidental reactor, and there are multi-layered issues such as handling of fuel debris, safety assurance, and treatment of contaminated water. According to estimates, the total cost is expected to reach 8 trillion yen, which means not only the end of the power generation facilities, but also financial strain that will span generations. The longer the response to the accident drags on, the greater the costs of technological development, personnel, and waste storage, and the economic outlook is ever-changing.

Looking at the world, the cost of cleanup of nuclear facilities in Europe is ballooning on a national basis, and a multi-trillion dollar management plan is in place at Sellafield in the UK. In the U.S., estimates are in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and the dismantling projects that have begun in various regions are taking on the appearance of a long-distance race. The economic burden of the nuclear reactors transcends national borders, showing that nuclear reactors, which have ceased to generate electricity, continue to be a driving force in society.

The cost of decommissioning is the very question of how to end the era of nuclear power, and it is the amount of money that links the choices of the past with the responsibilities of the future. Costs that were invisible when nuclear power plants were in operation are revealed after they are shut down, quietly shaking the judgment of society. The process of decommissioning nuclear power plants is a journey to find the equilibrium point between safety, the environment, and the economy, without turning back the hands of the clock. The journey has already begun and is still going on.