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420 atw Vol. 58 (2013) Issue 7 | July
Decommissioning
Estimated decommissioning cost for the 23 operating nuclear
power reactors in KoreaJoo Hyun Moon, Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk/Rep. of
Korea
Address of the author:Professor Joo Hyun Moon, Ph. D
Dept. of Nuclear & Energy System Engineering707,
Seokjang-dong, Gyeongju,
Gyeongbuk, Rep. of Korea, 780-714
Introduction
Nuclear power reactor need to be decom-missioned when they reach
the end of its design life. Decommissioning is part of the final
shutdown of a nuclear power reactor and starts with the removal of
high radio-active spent fuel and may end with the clean-up of the
entire facility or site includ-ing contaminated soil and
groundwater in some rare cases [1]. The decommissioning process
involves the demolition of build-ings and other structures,
including the parts near the reactor core that might have become
radioactive, as well as the on-site handling of construction
materials (mostly steel and concrete) and the packaging and
transport of these materials for safe stor-age and disposal.
[2]
As of December 2012, Korea has 23 op-erating nuclear power
reactors, which are listed in Table 1. The operation license of
Kori 1, which was the first commercial power nuclear reactor in
Korea, was re-newed for 10 years in 2007. Currently, the
application for an operation license renew-al of Wolsong 1 is under
safety review. If Wolsong 1 does not pass the safety review,
its operation will cease permanently and the decommissioning
process will com-
mence. Although 2 small nuclear research reactors were
decommissioned early in 2000s, no commercial nuclear power reac-tor
has been decommissioned in Korea. To prepare for the safe and
efficient decom-missioning of nuclear power reactors, the Korean
government has developed a relat-ed regulation system and advanced
core technologies.
The decommissioning of nuclear power reactors requires
considerable funds and is performed over a long period.
Conse-quently, the regulatory body requires the licensee of an
operating nuclear power re-actor to provide reasonable assurance
that the funds will be available for the decom-missioning process.
This paper estimates the annual costs for decommissioning the 23
nuclear power plants in Korea be-tween 2014 and 2083 to
forecast the total decommissioning funds needed by the li-censee as
well as provide a basis for indus-trial strategy and
decommissioning activi-ty planning.
Tab. 1. Summary of the 23 nuclear power reactors in operation in
Korea.
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421atw Vol. 58 (2013) Issue 7 | July
Decommissioning
Estimation of the annual expected cost
Only the 23 operating nuclear power reac-tors were considered
when estimating the decommissioning costs. The original 2008
national basic energy plan intended that a total of 40 reactors
would be operating by 2030. The plan was suspended due to the
nuclear power plant accident in Japan on 11 March 2011 but may be
continued.
The unit decommissioning cost is need-ed to make an estimation
of the total de-commissioning cost of a nuclear power re-actor.
Therefore, the worldwide decom-missioning experience data for PWRs
(Pressurized Water Reactors) and PHWRs (Pressurized Heavy Water
Reactor) [3] was used. According to reference [3], the mean
decommissioning cost for PWRs was estimated to be
approximately 320 US$/kWe in July 1st 2001 with
a standard deviation of approximately 195 US$/kWe. The
decommissioning cost esti-mates for PHWR were reported to range
from 270 to 435 US$/kWe with a mean value of approximately 360
USD/kWe and standard deviation of less than 70 US$/kWe. All the
cost estimates in US$ of 1st July 2002.
Using the unit decommissioning cost in US$ of 2002 1st July
and electrical pow-er of each nuclear power reactor, the
to-tal decommissioning costs of the 23 reac-tors were
estimated without considering in-flation. For this estimation, the
following assump-tions were made:[1] The first decommissioning of a
nucle-
ar power reactor will not be initiated until 2024 because the
interim storage facility, where the spent nuclear fuel at the
nuclear reactor to be decommis-sioned will be transferred, will not
be secured until at that time. Therefore, if they fail to pass the
safety review for a license renewal process, the decom-missioning
of Wolsong 1 and Kori 1 will need to be delayed until the inter-im
storage facility for nuclear spent fu-el is available.
[2] The decommissioning of a nuclear power reactor will be
performed over 3 consecutive phases including a pre-decommissioning
phase (4 years), de-commissioning phase (9 years) and
post-decommissioning phase (2 years). A. The pre-decommissioning
phase
consists of activities for permanent shut-down and
decommissioning planning of a reactor.
B. The decommissioning phase con-sists of engineering and
licensing activities, dismantlement of the re-actor and waste
management.
C. The post-decommissioning phases consist of activities for
completing the decommissioning process.
[3] The decommissioning cost will be dif-ferent at each
decommissioning phase, i.e. 15 % of the total decommis-sioning
at pre-decommissioning phase, 75 % at decommissioning phase, and 10
% at post-decommis-sioning phase. Nevertheless, the cost will be
spread evenly over the period of each phase.
[4] The life of each reactor can be extend-ed by 10 years
through the appropri-ate license renewal process. On the other
hand, the number of license re-newals will be limited to 2 at
most.
Based on the above assumptions, the fol-lowing 4 scenarios for
decommissioning the 23 nuclear power reactors were devel-oped
because a national decommissioning policy for power reactors is yet
to be made. Scenario 1: Wolsong 1 fails to pass the safety review
of the license renewal appli-cation for a 10 year life extension.
The op-eration of Wolsong 1 will cease and be un-der safe storage
until 2024 when the inter-im storage facility of spent nuclear fuel
can be secured and its decommissioning can be initiated. In this
period, only the activities related to those in the
pre-decommission-ing phase will be permitted. Kori 1, which was
permitted to operate for a further 10 years in 2007, will also fail
to additional li-cense renewal at 2017. The initiation of the
decommissioning of Kori 1 will also be de-layed until 2024. The
other 21 nuclear re-actors are assumed to obtain license re-newal
for 10 more years after their design life is reached. Scenario 2:
The 21 nuclear power reactors excluding Wolsong 1 and Kori 1 are
as-sumed to obtain license renewal for 20 years after each
design life. The other
assumptions are the same as those in Sce-nario 1.Scenario 3: All
23 nuclear power reactors, including Wolsong 1 obtain one
additional license renewal for 10 years. Kori 1 would not attempt
to renew a second operation li-cense, and will enter the permanent
shut-down phase. On the other hand, The initia-tion of the
decommissioning of Kori 1 will also be delayed until 2024.Scenario
4: All 23 nuclear power reactors, including Wolsong 1 will obtain 2
addition-al license renewals for 20 years.
Figures 1 to 4 present the annual de-commissioning cost
estimates in US$ of Ju-ly 1st 2001 for the 4 scenarios.
For Scenario 1, the real decommission-ing of Kori 1 and Wolsong
1 will be initiated in 2024. The annual decommissioning cost, in
other word, the decommissioning market size between 2024 and 2034,
will be incurred mainly by the first 2 reac-tors. In 2033, the
pre-decommissioning phase of Kori 2 will be initiated. After
that, the decommissioning market size will grow
gradually, reaching a maxi-mum size of 249.4 MUS$ in 2046 due
to the successive decommissioning of nuclear power reactors. The
decommissioning market size will then decrease gradually until 2076
when decommissioning of the Shin Kori 2 and Shin Wolsong 1 are
com-plete.
For Scenario 2, decommissioning cost will be incurred from 2013
due to the start of pre-decommissioning phase of Wol-song 1.
The annual market size from 2013 to 2032 will be the same as that
of Scenar-io 1 because only 2 power reactors, Wolsong 1 and Kori 1,
will be decommis-sioned. The main difference from Scenario 1 is
that no decommissioning will occur from 2036 to 2042. The
pre-decommis-sioning phase of Kori 2 will not be started
Fig. 1. Annual decommissioning cost estimates in Korea for
Scenario 1.
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422 atw Vol. 58 (2013) Issue 7 | July
Decommissioning
until 2043. Compared to Scenario 1, the peak in the market
size will be shifted to 2059 from 2046, and the decommission-ing
of shin Wolsung 1 will be completed in 2086.
For Scenario 3, the pre-decommission-ing phase of Kori 1 will
start in 2017. After that, the annual decommissioning market size
will grow gradually and reach a peak in 2046. Between 2047 and
2068, the an-nual decommissioning market will fluctu-ate. From 2017
to 2076, only the decom-missioning of Shin Kori 1 and Shin Wol-song
1 will be undertaken.
For Scenario 4, the initiation of the pre-decommissioning phase
of the first power reactor will be delayed by 10 years com-pared to
that in Scenario 3. In addition, the peak in the annual
decommissioning market will occur in 2055. The period dur-ing which
power reactors are decommis-sioned will be prolonged by 10 years,
and decommissioning of the Shin Kori 2 and Shin Wolsong 1 nuclear
reactors will be completed in 2086.
Conclusion
This paper estimated the annual cost for decommissioning the 23
nuclear power plants in Korea between 2014 and 2083 to
forecast the total decommissioning funds that need to be secured by
the licen-see as well as to provide a basis for an in-dustrial
strategy and decommissioning ac-tivity planning. For this
estimation, 4 sce-narios for decommissioning the 23 nucle-ar
power reactors were developed and evaluated. The estimations showed
that the real decommissioning of the nu-clear power reactors
could be initiated from 2024, whereas the operations of
Ko-ri 1 and Wolsong 1 could be stopped sever-al years before
2024 because the interim storage facility of spent nuclear fuel
would be secured. The large decommissioning market of more 100
million US$ of July 1st 2001 will be developed between 2038 and
2077.
References
[1] IAEA: Status of the decommissioning of nuclear facilities
around the world.
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publi-cations/PDF/Pub1201_web.pdf,
2004.
[2] Samseth, J., Banford, A., Batandjieva-Metcalf, B., Cantone
M. C., Lietava, P., Peimani H., Szilagyi, A.: Closing and
De-commissioning Nuclear Power Reactors: Another look following the
Fukushima accident, UNEP Year Book 2012, 2012.
[3] OECD/NEA: Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants: Policies,
Strategies and Costs, 2003.
Fig. 2. Annual decommissioning cost estimates in Korea for
Scenario 2.
Fig. 3. Annual decommissioning cost estimates in Korea for
Scenario 3.
Fig. 4. Annual decommissioning cost estimates in Korea for
Scenario 4.
