Decommissioning: An Approach to Predict the Amount of Radioactive Waste Arisings

In the next decades many facilities are going to be decommissioned in Germany. On the basis of the agreement between the utilities and the Federal Government on the phase out of nuclear energy use for commercial electricity generation predictions can be made on the schedule of the shut down of nuclear installations in Germany and a prognosis might be given for the complete amount of decommissioning waste that will arise. 17 nuclear power plants and other nuclear installations are to be shut down and decommissioned within the next 2 decades. An approach for the prediction of the amount of radioactive waste and an overview on the underlying assumptions is given. The prognosis for the expected radioactive waste in Germany depends on several assumptions. Utilities in Germany expect approx. 5000 m³ of radioactive waste with negligible heat-generation from decommissioning per reactor. New inquiries seem to indicate that less radioactive waste may arise due to new techniques in decontamination and conditioning. Nevertheless, there will be limits due to costs and physical properties.