U.K. Power Companies Must Pay to Decommission Nuclear Plants

New rules for the nuclear power industry will be publicly heard later this week.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown may require companies that that build nuclear power plants in the U.K. to pay to decommission them.
“Owners and operators would have to set aside funds to cover the full costs of decommissioning and their share of the long-term management and disposal costs of waste,” Brown’s spokesman, Michael Ellam said.
Brown has a plan to build a new generation of nuclear power plants, and the new rules figure into it.  Decommissioning costs are over 48 billion pounds ($95 billion) for 21 existing U.K. nuclear power plants.  Britain has a growing need for power, and must replace a third of its power stations within a decade including nuclear power stations.
“The government must take long term responsibility for ensuring waste is stored and disposed of safely,”stated EDF Energy. “The investors operating new nuclear plants must take responsibility for paying for our fair share of the cost of waste from any new plants.”
The government will detail  its plans on Jan. 10. Business Secretary John Hutton will give a talk to Parliament with out the government’s recommendations on whether to support new nuclear power plants.

www.edfenergy.com