Cost Analysis for Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants With Uncertainties Available to Purchase

Decommissioning cost including radioactive waste management for 1100 MWe nuclear power plant (BWR) was analyzed comparing multiple scenarios. The total cost of decommissioning nuclear power plant was first estimated including the radioactive waste management cost for the standard Japanese decommissioning case with 30 years of the project duration including approximately 20 years in safe storage. It showed that the cost relating to waste management accounts for more than half of the total cost. Focusing on the radioactive waste management cost, the duration of safe storage was varied as a parameter. The timing of waste disposal was a key parameter determining the waste management cost due to the decay of radioactive nuclides resulting in the decrease in the total volume of the radioactive waste, and the change in the ratio of the waste volume in the three radioactive waste categories (intermediate-level, low-level, and extremely low-level). The total cost showed the minimum value at around 60 years of the project duration balancing the waste management cost and period dependent cost for safe storage.