The cost to decommission Soviet-designed, first-generation nuclear reactors in Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia could total up to €11.4 billion ($12.7 billion), according to a report issued Tuesday by the European Court of Auditors.
Additionally, financing is not keeping up with the rising costs. The gap between decommissioning costs and financing is now €1.56 billion ($1.7 billion) in in Lithuania, €92 million ($102.8 million) in Slovakia, and €28 million ($31 million) in Bulgaria, according to the report.
The European Court of Auditors blamed this on the fact that European Union decommissioning funding programs haven’t produced the right incentives for “timely and cost-effective decommissioning, with nearly all the key infrastructure projects having experienced delays.”
“I am concerned that key decommissioning projects have suffered delays, that financing gaps remain, and that insufficient progress is being made towards final disposal of high-level nuclear waste,” Phil Wynn Owen, a member of the European Court of Auditors, said in Tuesday’s statement.
According to the auditing organization, dismantling of major components in lower radiation-level areas, such as turbine halls, has progressed at plants in Lithuania (Ignalina), Bulgaria (Kozloduy), and Slovakia (Bohunice), but there are significant challenges in higher-radiation-level areas, such as the reactor buildings.
“The three Member States have put in place some key, temporary waste-management infrastructure onsite, but nearly all the key infrastructure projects have experienced delays,” the press release states. “The longest were in Lithuania, where the decommissioning end-date has, since 2011, been postponed by a further nine years to 2038.”
The auditors recommended the European Commission and its member states seek additional national co-financing for 2014 through 2020. Recommendations also included the reconsideration of dedicated funding programs to create greater incentives, among other suggestions.
