Building new nuclear power stations is becoming hugely more expensive by the day, but decommissioning old ones might prove to be even more costly. The authorities at Ignalina say the whole decommissioning process, including the decontamination of thousands of tons of equipment and building materials, is likely to cost at least €3 billion. Much of the cost has so far been funded by the EU. But Lithuania − one of the less economically developed countries within the EU, with under three million people − will in future have to take on more of the financial burden of dismantling the plant. A plant spokeswoman says the decommissioning process will take the 2,000 workers at present on site until 2038 to complete. In addition, there is the problem of the disposal of long-term nuclear waste, initially to be stored on site in a series of steel casks.
Climate News Network 7th May 2016 read more »