Decommissioning costs and financing

The likely scale of the decommissioning and waste management costs and the resulting contributions to the two funds are estimated under the auspices of this commission. For this, cost studies are prepared every five years. At the end of 2016 the work carried out by the operators under the guidance of Swissnuclear was completed in the Cost Study 2016.

The cost committee an advisory expert panel of the commission, supervises the cost studies, assesses the results and delivers recommendations to the commission. The cost committee is mainly comprised of persons who do not work on behalf of the parties responsible for the waste disposal, i.e. the nuclear power plant operators or the National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (NAGRA). The parties responsible for the waste disposal bring their expertise to bear.

The classification of cost levels considers the cost estimate from the standpoint of riskiness. It differentiates not only the calculated initial costs and the costs for risk-mitigating actions but also cost surcharges for inaccuracies of the forecast and threats as well as cost deductions for opportunities and if required, an additional safety surcharge.

The requirements with respect to the federal council has set key values for the calculations of the cost studies in the decommissioning and waste disposal fund directive Further important boundary conditions are defined by the Federal Office for Energy or the commission. The waste disposal programme of NAGRA also forms a binding basis which is approved by the federal council. The cost studies, including all assumptions and calculations are checked by the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI). For this, ENSI also engages external national and international experts. The cost studies are also checked for plausibility by well-known auditing companies.

For more information on the funds see Waste management costs and their financing .

Source: Swissnuclear www.swissnuclear.ch/en/downloads.html (18.10.2017).