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72-503: Decommissioning by Sellafield Ltd started in 2005. The site is partially demolished and is expected that only the reactor cores and associated radiation shielding will remain by 2027, when it will enter a period of extended care and maintenance using the "safestore" principle, before final demolition. It was decided by the UK Government to proceed with the civil nuclear power programme in 1952, and construction at Calder Hall began

144-522: A committee of the French parliament warned that the state-controlled EDF has underestimated the costs for decommissioning. France had set aside only €23 billion for decommissioning and waste storage of its 58 reactors, which was less than a third of 74 billion in expected costs, while the UK's NDA estimated that clean-up of UK's 17 nuclear sites will cost between €109-€250 billion. EDF estimated

216-527: A complaint by owners and operators of nuclear power plants. By 2021, the Fund had a balance of more than $ 44 billion, including interest. Later, the Fund has been put back into the general fund and is being used for other purposes. As the plan for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository has been canceled, DOE announced in 2021 the establishing of an interim repository for nuclear waste. Because

288-436: A critical component of pre-decommissioning operations, thus should be factored into the decommissioning plan. The chosen option – immediate or deferred decommissioning – impacts the overall costs. Many other factors also influence the cost. A 2018 KPMG article about decommissioning costs observes that many entities do not include the cost of managing spent nuclear fuel, removed from the plant areas that will be decommissioned (in

360-492: A trust fund or a guarantee from the parent company Switzerland has a central fund for decommissioning its five nuclear power reactors, and another one for disposal the nuclear waste . Germany has also a state-owned fund for decommissioning of the plants and managing radioactive waste, for which the reactor owners have to pay. The UK Government (the taxpayers) will pay most of the costs for both nuclear decommissioning and existing waste. The decommissioning of all Magnox reactors

432-424: Is a growing still unsolved problem. Decommissioning is an administrative and technical process. The facility is dismantled to the point that it no longer requires measures for radiation protection. It includes clean-up of radioactive materials. Once a facility is fully decommissioned, no radiological danger should persist. The license will be terminated and the site released from regulatory control. The plant licensee

504-529: Is also the owner of Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), which is responsible for implementing a geological disposal facility in the UK and provide radioactive waste management solutions. In February 2017, a national archive for the UK civil nuclear industry, named Nucleus, was opened in Wick, Caithness , Scotland. In 2005, the cost of decommissioning these sites was planned at £55.8   billion, with Sellafield requiring £31.5   billion. However, in 2006,

576-431: Is either moved to an on-site storage facility where it still is under control of the plant owner, or moved to a dry cask storage or disposal facility at another location. The problem of long-term disposal of nuclear waste is still unsolved. Pending the availability of geologic repository sites for long-term disposal, interim storage is necessary. As the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository – like elsewhere in

648-839: Is entirely funded by the state. Since 2010, owners of new nuclear plants in the Netherlands are obliged to set up a decommissioning fund before construction is started. The economic costs of decommissioning will increase as more assets reach the end of their life, but few operators have put aside sufficient funds. In 2016 the European Commission assessed that European Union's nuclear decommissioning liabilities were seriously underfunded by about 118 billion euros, with only 150 billion euros of earmarked assets to cover 268 billion euros of expected decommissioning costs covering both dismantling of nuclear plants and storage of radioactive parts and waste. In Feb 2017,

720-410: Is expected to be twice as much respect to Large Reactors. In France, decommissioning of Brennilis Nuclear Power Plant , a fairly small 70 MW power plant, already cost €480 million (20x the estimate costs) and is still pending after 20 years. Despite the huge investments in securing the dismantlement, radioactive elements such as plutonium , caesium-137 and cobalt-60 leaked out into

792-495: Is finished, while there are no longer revenues from production. Partial entombment The US has introduced the so-called In Situ Decommissioning (ISD) closures. All aboveground structures are dismantled; all remaining belowground structures are entombed by grouting all spaces. Advantages are lower decommissioning costs and safer execution. Disadvantages are main components remaining undismantled and definitively inaccessible. The site has to be monitored indefinitely. This method

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864-521: Is fulfilled when the approved end state of the facility has been reached. The process typically takes about 15 to 30 years, or many decades more when an interim safe storage period is applied for radioactive decay . Radioactive waste that remains after the decommissioning is either moved to an on-site storage facility where it is still under control of the owner, or moved to a dry cask storage or disposal facility at another location. The final disposal of nuclear waste from past and future decommissioning

936-492: Is ongoing. Russia has a fleet of nuclear-powered vessels in decommissioning, dumped in the Barents Sea . Estimated cost for the decommissioning of the two K-27 and K-159 submarines alone was €300 million (2019), or $ 330 million. Marine power plants are generally smaller than land-based electrical generating stations. The biggest American military nuclear facility for the production of weapons-grade plutonium

1008-533: Is terminated. Deferred dismantling ( SAFSTOR in the United States; "care and maintenance" (C&M) in the UK) The final decommissioning is postponed for a longer period, usually 30 to 50 years. Often the non-nuclear part of the facility is dismantled and the fuel removed immediately. The radioactive part is maintained and monitored in a condition that allows the radioactivity to decay. Afterwards,

1080-522: Is the administrative and technical process leading to the irreversible closure of a nuclear facility such as a nuclear power plant (NPP), a research reactor , an isotope production plant, a particle accelerator , or uranium mine . It refers to the administrative and technical actions taken to remove all or some of the regulatory controls from the facility to bring about that its site can be reused. Decommissioning includes planning, decontamination, dismantling and materials management. Decommissioning

1152-399: Is the final step in the lifecycle of a nuclear installation. It involves activities from shutdown and removal of nuclear material to the environmental restoration of the site. The term decommissioning covers all measures carried out after a nuclear installation has been granted a decommissioning licence until nuclear regulatory supervision is no longer necessary. The aim is ideally to restore

1224-435: Is the process leading to the irreversible complete or partial closure of a nuclear facility, usually a nuclear reactor , with the ultimate aim at termination of the operating licence. The process usually runs according to a decommissioning plan , including the whole or partial dismantling and decontamination of the facility, ideally resulting in restoration of the environment up to greenfield status . The decommissioning plan

1296-496: Is then no longer responsible for the nuclear safety. The costs of decommissioning are to be covered by funds that are provided for in a decommissioning plan , which is part of the facility's initial authorization. They may be saved in a decommissioning fund, such as a trust fund. There are worldwide also hundreds of thousands small nuclear devices and facilities, for medical, industrial and research purposes, that will have to be decommissioned at some point. Nuclear decommissioning

1368-500: The List of nuclear reactors is small. As May 2022, about 700 nuclear reactors have been retired from operation in several early and intermediate stages (cold shut-down, defueling, SAFSTOR, internal demolition), but only about 25 have been taken to fully " greenfield status ". Many of these sites still host spent nuclear fuel in the form of dry casks embedded in concrete filled steel drums. As of 2017, most nuclear plants operating in

1440-780: The Deactivation and Decommissioning Knowledge Management Information Tool was developed under the United States Department of Energy and made available to the international community to support the exchange of ideas and information. The goals of international collaboration in nuclear decommissioning are to reduce decommissioning costs and improve worker safety. Many warships and a few civil ships have used nuclear reactors for propulsion . Former Soviet and American warships have been taken out of service and their power plants removed or scuttled. Dismantling of Russian submarines and ships and American submarines and ships

1512-588: The Department of Trade and Industry . It came into existence during late 2004, and took on its main functions on 1 April 2005. Its purpose is to deliver the decommissioning and clean-up of the UK's civil nuclear legacy in a safe and cost-effective manner, and where possible to accelerate programmes of work that reduce hazard. Although the NDA itself employs about 250 staff, its subsidiaries employ about 15,000 staff across

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1584-405: The European Commission . The progressive demolition of buildings and removal of radioactive material is potentially occupationally hazardous, expensive, time-intensive, and presents environmental risks that must be addressed to ensure radioactive materials are either transported elsewhere for storage or stored on-site in a safe manner. Radioactive waste that remains after the decommissioning

1656-489: The Experimental Breeder Reactor II . Complete entombment The facility will not be dismantled. Instead it is entombed and maintained indefinitely, and surveillance is continued until the entombed radioactive waste is decayed to a level permitting termination of the license and unrestricted release of the property. The licensee maintains the license previously issued. This option is likely

1728-643: The 3 enrichment facilities slated for decommissioning. Organizations that promote the international sharing of information, knowledge, and experiences related to nuclear decommissioning include the International Atomic Energy Agency , the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Nuclear Energy Agency and the European Atomic Energy Community . In addition, an online system called

1800-503: The American taxpayers through the Department of Energy (DOE) budget as of 2018 about $ 30 billion per year, $ 18 billion for  nuclear power and $ 12 billion for waste from nuclear weapons programs. KPMG estimated the total cost of decommissioning the US nuclear fleet as of 2018 to be greater than US$ 150 billion. About two-thirds can be attributed to costs for termination of

1872-653: The British government later resulted in a new company, Sellafield Ltd, gaining responsibility for operations of the Sellafield site. The two units were originally designed for a life of 20 years from respectively 1956 and 1959. However in July 1996 the plant was granted an operating licence for a further ten years. Its military use, which meant it was shut down for periods of its life, contributed to its long lifetime. Due to embrittlement from years of exposure to radiation, it

1944-684: The European Union these documents are a precondition for granting such a licence is an opinion by the European Commission according to Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty . On the basis of these general data, the Commission must be in a position to assess the exposure of reference groups of the population in the nearest neighbouring states. There are several options for decommissioning: Immediate dismantling (DECON in

2016-400: The NDA estate. Its annual budget is £3.5   billion, the vast majority of which is spent through contracts with site licence companies, who also subcontract to other companies which provide special services. The NDA aims to do this by introducing innovation and contractor expertise through a series of competitions similar to the model that has been used in the United States. In April 2017,

2088-475: The NDA has transitioned to a "group approach" of SLCs being wholly-owned NDA subsidiaries On its creation, the NDA also took over ownership of Direct Rail Services , the rail freight operating company set up by BNFL in 1995 to transport nuclear materials; and International Nuclear Services , which operates services on behalf of the NDA for the management and transportation of nuclear fuels. Both have since merged to become Nuclear Transport Solutions. The NDA

2160-505: The NDA lost a legal case in the Supreme Court regarding the procurement of a sizeable contract for the decommissioning of twelve different Magnox nuclear facilities when EnergySolutions EU (now called ATK Energy EU) challenged a decision in connection with ATK's unsuccessful bid. In February 2018 Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) concluded that the NDA had "dramatically under-estimated" costs and "completely failed" in

2232-453: The NDA reported that the cost of cleaning up existing waste was higher than previously thought, and gave a new estimated decommissioning cost of about £72   billion over a 100-year period. In 2008, estimated decommissioning costs increased to £73.6   billion, or after taking account of discount rates , £44.1   billion. A 2006 estimate foresaw £14   billion of offsetting income from reprocessing fuel at Sellafield . In 2009,

Calder Hall nuclear power station - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-462: The NDA sold land near three existing reactor sites for expected new nuclear power stations, for over £200   million. In 2013, a critical Public Accounts Committee report stated that the private consortium managing Sellafield has failed to reduce costs and delays. Between 2005 and 2013, the annual costs of operating Sellafield increased from £900   million to about £1.6   billion. The estimated lifetime undiscounted cost of dealing with

2376-516: The NRC operating licence; 25% to management of spent fuel; and 10% to site restoration. The decommissioning of only the three uranium enrichment facilities would have an estimated cost (2004) of US$ 18.7 to 62 billion, with an additional US$ 2 to 6 billion for the dismantling of a large inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride . A 2004 GAO report indicated the "costs will have exceeded revenues by $ 3.5 billion to $ 5.7 billion (in 2004 dollars)" for

2448-448: The Sellafield site increased to £67.5   billion. Bosses were forced to apologise after projected clean-up costs passed the £70   billion mark in late 2013. In 2014, the undiscounted decommissioning cost estimate for Sellafield was increased to £79.1   billion, and by 2015 to £117.4   billion. The annual operating cost will be £2   billion in 2016. In 2018, the discount rate used in evaluating future spending

2520-432: The UK called Interim Storage Facilities (ISF's). The decommission of a nuclear reactor can only take place after the appropriate licence has been granted pursuant to the relevant legislation. As part of the licensing procedure, various documents, reports and expert opinions have to be written and delivered to the competent authority, e.g. safety report, technical documents and an environmental impact assessment (EIA). In

2592-554: The US routinely stored in ISFSIs ). In 2004, in a meeting in Vienna , the International Atomic Energy Agency estimated the total cost for the decommissioning of all nuclear facilities. Decommissioning of all nuclear power reactors in the world would require US$ 187  billion ; US$ 71 billion for fuel cycle facilities; less than US$ 7 billion for all research reactors; and US$ 640 billion for dismantling all military reactors for

2664-497: The US, the decommissioning must be completed within 60 years of the plant ceasing operations, unless a longer time is necessary to protect public health and safety; up to 50 years are for radioactive decay and 10 years to dismantle the facility. The decommissioning process encompasses: Under supervision of the IAEA , a member state first develops a decommissioning plan to demonstrate the feasibility of decommissioning and assure that

2736-503: The United States were designed for a life of about 30–40 years and are licensed to operate for 40 years by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission . As of 2020, the average age of these reactors was about 39 years. Many plants are coming to the end of their licensing period and if their licenses are not renewed, they must go through a decontamination and decommissioning process. Generally are not included

2808-423: The United States; ) Shortly after the permanent shutdown, the dismantling and/or decontamination of the facility begins. Equipment, structures, systems and components that contain radioactive material are removed and/or decontaminated to a level that permits the ending of regulatory control of the facility and its release, either for unrestricted use or with restrictions on its future use. The operating license

2880-531: The associated costs are covered. At the final shutdown, a final decommissioning plan describes in detail how the decommissioning will take place, how the facility will be safely dismantled, ensuring radiation protection of the workers and the public, addressing environmental impacts, managing radioactive and non-radioactive materials, and termination of the regulatory authorization. In the EU, decommissioning operations are overseen by Euratom . Member states are assisted by

2952-444: The cost of decommissioning. While, for instance, costs for spent fuel and high-level-waste management significantly impacts the budget and schedule of decommissioning projects, it is necessary to clarify which is the starting and the ending point of the decommissioning process. The effective decommissioning activities begin after all nuclear fuel has been removed from the plant areas that will be decommissioned and these activities form

Calder Hall nuclear power station - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-804: The costs of storage of nuclear waste, including spent fuel , and maintenance of the storage facility, pending the realization of repository sites for long-term disposal (in the US Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations ( ISFSI 's). Thus many entities do not include the cost of managing spent nuclear fuel, removed from the plant areas that will be decommissioned. There are, however, large differences between countries regarding inclusion of certain costs, such as on-site storage of fuel and radioactive waste from decommissioning, dismanting of non-radioactive buildings and structures, and transport and (final) disposal of radioactive waste. The year of costs may refer to

3096-465: The electricity. The reactors were supplied by UKAEA, the turbines by C. A. Parsons and Company , and the civil engineering contractor was Taylor Woodrow Construction . Calder Hall was an early development of the existing Windscale site , and due to its size required considerable extension of the site to the south east across the River Calder. It was named after Calder Hall farm, which had farmed

3168-468: The estimate was even much higher: £97 billion. A 2013 estimate by the United Kingdom's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority predicted costs of at least £100 billion to decommission the 19 existing United Kingdom nuclear sites. In Germany, decommissioning of Niederaichbach nuclear power plant, a 100 MW power plant, amounted to more than €143 million. Lithuania has increased

3240-571: The following year. The station was designed by a team led by Christopher Hinton, Baron Hinton of Bankside , Calder Hall initially had two cooling towers , with two further added at the opposite end of the power station in 1958 and 1959. Each were 88 metres (289 ft) in height. The four Magnox ( mag nesium n on- ox idising, referring to the alloy used for the fuel element cladding) 180   MWth graphite moderated , carbon dioxide cooled nuclear reactors were fuelled by natural uranium enclosed in magnesium - aluminium alloy cans. The layout

3312-415: The government has failed to establish a central repository, the federal government pays about half-a-billion dollars a year to the utilities as penalty, to compensate the cost of storage at more than 80 ISFSI sites in 35 states as of 2021. As of 2021, the government had paid $ 9 billion to utility companies for their interim storage costs, which may grow to $ 31 billion or more. Nuclear waste costed

3384-411: The land it was built on, and bridges were built over the River Calder to link to the existing site. It was divided into two operating units, Calder "A" and Calder "B", each having a turbine hall and two cooling towers shared between reactors 1–2, and reactors 3-4 respectively. Construction began in 1953 and was carried out by Taylor Woodrow Construction and was completed in 1956. The primary purpose

3456-490: The long periode, where inflation and rising costs are unpredictable. Nuclear decommissioning projects are characterized by high and highly variable costs, long schedule and a range of risks. Compared with non-nuclear decommissioning, additional costs are usually related with radiological hazards and safety & security requirements, but also with higher wages for required higher qualified personnel. Benchmarking, comparing projects in different countries, may be useful in estimating

3528-475: The natural initial state that existed before the construction of the nuclear power plant, the so-called greenfield status . Decommissioning includes all steps as described in the decommissioning plan , leading to the release of a nuclear facility from regulatory control. The decommissioning plan is fulfilled when the approved end state of the facility has been reached. Disposal facilities for radioactive waste are closed rather than decommissioned . The use of

3600-470: The only possible one in case of a nuclear disaster where the reactor is destroyed and dismantling is impossible or too dangerous. An example of full entombment is the Chernobyl reactor . In IAEA terms, entombment is not considered an acceptable strategy for decommissioning a facility following a planned permanent shutdown, except under exceptional circumstances, such as a nuclear disaster . In that case,

3672-512: The operating license, once he has given certainty that the radiation at the site is below the legal limits, which in the US is an annual exposure of 25 millirem in case of releasing of the site to the public for unrestricted use. The site will be dismantled to the point that it no longer requires measures for radiation protection . Once a facility is decommissioned no radioactive danger persists and it can be released from regulatory control. The complete process usually takes about 20 to 30 years. In

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3744-400: The plant is dismantled and the property decontaminated to levels that permit release for unrestricted or restrict use. In the US, the decommissioning must be completed within 60 years. With deferred dismantling, costs are shifted to the future, but this entails the risk of rising expenditures for decades to come and changing rules. Moreover, the site cannot be re-used until the decommissioning

3816-598: The procurement and management of the Magnox Ltd contract, which was one of the highest value contracts let by the government. An independent inquiry into the deal was set up. The main objectives of NDA are to: Responsibility for operating the sites has been restructured into five site licence companies (SLC). Management of the SLCs was formerly contracted out to different parent body organisations (PBO), some of which were initially owned by private companies. More recently,

3888-614: The production of weapons-grade plutonium , research fuel facilities, nuclear reprocessing chemical separation facilities, etc. The total cost to decommission the nuclear fission industry in the World (from 2001 to 2050) was estimated at US$ 1  trillion . Market Watch estimated (2019) the global decommissioning costs in the nuclear sector in the range of US$ 1 billion to US$ 1.5 billion per 1,000-megawatt plant. The huge costs of research and development for (geological) longterm disposal of nuclear waste are collectively defrayed by

3960-411: The prognosis of decommissioning costs from €2019 million in 2010 to €3376 million in 2015. The decommissioning can only be completed after the on-site storage of nuclear waste has been ended. Under the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act , a "Nuclear Waste Fund", funded by tax on electricity was established to build a geologic repository . On May 16, 2014, collection of the fee was suspended after

4032-620: The spent fuel was taken across the Sellafield site to be reprocessed within the Magnox Reprocessing Plant . It is planned that by 2027 only the four reactor buildings will be left, and they will be dismantled to the point where only the concrete bio-shield that contains the reactor core remains. The site is expected to be in safe storage by 2027 or later, using the "safestore" principle, which utilises an extended period of care and maintenance to reduce overall decommissioning costs. There had been proposals in 2007 for transforming

4104-582: The station into a museum, involving renovating Calder Hall and preserving the cooling towers, but the costs were found to be too high. Ownership of all of the site's assets and liabilities was transferred to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), a regulatory body created by the Energy Act 2004 . While operations were transferred from BNFL to Sellafield Ltd. Nuclear decommissioning Nuclear decommissioning

4176-645: The structure has to be maintained and surveillance continued until the radioactive material is decayed to a level permitting termination of the licence and unrestricted release of the structure. The calculation of the total cost of decommissioning is challenging, as there are large differences between countries regarding inclusion of certain costs, such as on-site storage of fuel and radioactive waste from decommissioning, dismanting of non-radioactive buildings and structures, and transport and (final) disposal of radioactive waste. Moreover, estimates of future costs of deferred decommissioning are virtually impossible, due to

4248-414: The surrounding lake. In the UK, the decommissioning of civil nuclear assets were estimated to be £99 to £232 billion (2020), earlier in 2005 under-estimated to be £20-40 billion. The Sellafield site (Calder Hall, Windscale and the reprocessing facility) alone accounts for most of the decommissioning cost and increase in cost; as of 2015, the costs were estimated £53.2 billion. In 2019,

4320-421: The taxpayers in different countries, not by the companies. The costs of decommissioning are to be covered by funds that are provided for in a decommissioning plan , which is part of the facility's initial authorization, before the start of the operations. In this way, it is ensured that there will be sufficient money to pay for the eventual decommissioning of the facility. This may for example be through saving in

4392-400: The term decommissioning implies that no further use of the facility (or part thereof) for its existing purpose is foreseen. Though decommissioning typically includes dismantling of the facility, it is not necessarily part of it as far as existing structures are reused after decommissioning and decontamination. From the owner's perspective, the ultimate aim of decommissioning is termination of

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4464-531: The then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced his support for a National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) to be based on the British Technology Centre at Sellafield and Nexia Solutions. The NDA, as the owner of Sellafield site and the funder of majority of research required across the nuclear estate, was involved establishing the NNL in 2009. The NNL complements other initiatives to develop

4536-436: The total cost at €54 billion. According to the parliamentary commission, the clean-up of French reactors will take longer, be more challenging and cost much more than EDF anticipates. It said that EDF showed "excessive optimism" concerning the decommissioning. EDF values some €350 million per reactor, whereas European operators count with between 900 million and 1.3 billion euros per reactor. The EDF's estimate

4608-485: The value corrected for exchange rates and inflation until that year (e.g. 2020-dollars). Nuclear Decommissioning Authority The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority ( NDA ) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (formerly the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ) formed by the Energy Act 2004 . It evolved from the Coal and Nuclear Liabilities Unit of

4680-655: The world – is controversial, on- or off-site storage in the US usually takes place in Independent Spent Fuel Storage Facilities ( ISFSI 's). In the UK, all eleven Magnox reactors are in decommissioning under responsibility of the NDA. The spent fuel was removed and transferred to the Sellafield site in Cumbria for reprocessing. Facilities for "temporary" storage of nuclear waste – mainly 'Intermediate Level Waste' (ILW) – are in

4752-891: Was Hanford site (in the State of Washington ), now defueled, but in a slow and problematic process of decontamination, decommissioning, and demolition. There is "the canyon", a large structure for the chemical extraction of plutonium with the PUREX process. There are also many big containers and underground tanks with a solution of water, hydrocarbons and uranium - plutonium - neptunium - cesium - strontium (all highly radioactive). With all reactors now defueled, some were put in SAFSTOR (with their cooling towers demolished). Several reactors have been declared National Historic Landmarks . A wide range of nuclear facilities have been decommissioned so far. The number of decommissioned nuclear reactors out of

4824-402: Was changed from a HM Treasury determined real terms discount rate to a rate that combined a nominal discount rate and an implied inflation rate based on Consumer Price Index forecasts. This nearly halved the estimate of the remaining cost of decommissioning and clean-up. The expenditure of the NDA in 2022/23 was £3,759M and income £1,059M, leading to a net expenditure of £2,700M. In 2006,

4896-404: Was decided to close the plant three years sooner than planned. The station was closed on 31 March 2003, the first reactor having been in use for nearly 47 years. Decommissioning started in 2005. The cooling towers were demolished by controlled implosions on 29 September 2007. A period of 12 weeks was required to remove asbestos in the towers' rubble. The reactors were fully defueled by 2019 and

4968-599: Was implemented at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina for the closure of the P and R Reactors. With this method, the cost of decommissioning for each reactor was about $ 73 million. In comparison, the decommissioning of each reactor using traditional methods would have been an estimated $ 250 million. This resulted in a 71% decrease in cost. Other examples are the Hallam nuclear reactor and

5040-678: Was largely emulated at Chapelcross in 1958, though at Calder Hall, the four units are divided by A and B each with their own turbine hall, unlike Chapelcross where all four units share a turbine hall. The Calder Hall and Chapelcross design was codenamed PIPPA (Pressurised Pile Producing Power and Plutonium) by the UKAEA to denote the plant's dual commercial and military role. The reactors each weighed 33,000 tonnes, had four heat exchangers and 1,696 nuclear fuel channels. 8 x 3,000 rpm turbines, each 75 metres (246 ft) long, 20 metres (66 ft) wide and 25 metres (82 ft) high were installed to generate

5112-523: Was primarily based on the single historic example of the already dismantled Chooz A reactor . The committee argued that costs like restoration of the site, removal of spent fuel, taxes and insurance and social costs should be included. Similar concerns about underfunding exist in the United States, where the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has located apparent decommissioning funding assurance shortfalls and requested 18 power plants to address that issue. The decommissioning cost of Small modular reactors

5184-657: Was to produce plutonium for the UK's nuclear weapons programme , for weapons including the WE.177 series. Electricity was always considered to be a by-product. Calder Hall was officially opened on 17 October 1956 by Queen Elizabeth II . It was initially owned and operated by the Production Group of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) until the creation of British Nuclear Fuels Limited ( BNFL ) in 1971. Restructuring by

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