{"id":7525,"date":"2017-03-29T16:19:51","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T15:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525"},"modified":"2017-03-29T16:19:51","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T15:19:51","slug":"nuclear-decommissioning-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525","title":{"rendered":"Nuclear decommissioning costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nuclear<\/a>Nuclear decommissioning costs are rising exponentially.\u00a0 I heard Chris Huhne the disgraced former Energy secretary on the today programme this morning.\u00a0 The UK government has had to pay out \u00a3100 million in compensation over the way it awarded a clean up contract<\/a>.\u00a0 However as Chris Huhne said this is not the real scandal.\u00a0 The real scandal is not how much money has been wasted here but how much nuclear decommissioning costs have risen and are rising.\u00a0 He helpfully gave some figures and those in the graph above come from him and I assume are correct I listened again and noted them down.\u00a0 I’ve taken the “present” to be 2016 rather than 2017 since he was not explicit about the year.<\/p>\n

What is truly frightening is how much nuclear decommissioning costs have risen in the last 5 years.\u00a0 The current total is \u00a3171 billion or 8% of the national debt. \u00a0 Chris Huhne gave a number of reasons for the very high cost.\u00a0 Even reactors with the same design name i.e. “Magnox” were individual designs with major differences even the design of the fuel rods, such as shape.\u00a0 Chris Huhne thought this would be better in the US where large numbers of reactors were built with the same design.\u00a0 Another reason was of course that no thought was given to dismantling the stations.\u00a0 The last reason is simply Sellafield.\u00a0 Its a radioactive disaster area and tellingly records have been lost so people do not know precisely is stored there.\u00a0 Whilst this cost is small when looked at from the point of view of spreading it over generations the frightening thing is the way is going up.\u00a0 (It should be stated that the\u00a0Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy have graph on their website stating that costs other than Sellafield are falling).<\/p>\n

This however all the above made me think.\u00a0 First I doubt if the situation is much better in the US.\u00a0 A large number of different designs were used there and the problem with nuclear power is that the individual plants take so long to build that design changes between plants are inevitable.\u00a0 I also doubt any thought was given of how to take them down.\u00a0 Secondly are we about to repeat the same mistakes?\u00a0 We could be.\u00a0 If EDF stagger through building Hinckley C its unlikely they will build any other reactors.\u00a0 (Notice how since the deal was signed last autumn nothing has happened).\u00a0 The Japanese have dropped out and there is talk of Chinese and Koreans coming in.\u00a0 Even if they do then they are going to build only the odd reactor or two.\u00a0 We will still end up with a number of completely different designs to cope with.\u00a0 As for planned dismantling which is supposed to be built in.\u00a0 First do not underestimate the difficulties of someone in 70 years time being to get hold of the instructions (how are they to be stored?) or understanding them especially with language difficulties.<\/p>\n

Neil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nuclear decommissioning costs are rising exponentially.\u00a0 I heard Chris Huhne the disgraced former Energy secretary on the today programme this morning.\u00a0 The UK government has had to pay out \u00a3100 million in compensation over the way it awarded a clean … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,4],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-7525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nuclear","category-renewables","tag-nuclear-power"],"yoast_head":"\nNuclear decommissioning costs - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525\",\"name\":\"Nuclear decommissioning costs - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Nuclear-decommissioning-costs-300x216.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-29T15:19:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Nuclear-decommissioning-costs-300x216.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Nuclear-decommissioning-costs-300x216.jpeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nuclear decommissioning costs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil\",\"description\":\"Blogging by Neil and Andy about Peak oil and faith.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nuclear decommissioning costs - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525","url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525","name":"Nuclear decommissioning costs - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Nuclear-decommissioning-costs-300x216.jpeg","datePublished":"2017-03-29T15:19:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Nuclear-decommissioning-costs-300x216.jpeg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Nuclear-decommissioning-costs-300x216.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7525#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nuclear decommissioning costs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/","name":"The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","description":"Blogging by Neil and Andy about Peak oil and faith.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7525"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7528,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7525\/revisions\/7528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}