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January 03, 2006
Cost of nuclear clean-up rises to £70bn
The projected cost of cleaning up the sites of Britain's old nuclear power stations is likely to leap to more than £70bn when new figures are published early this year.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)says it is "almost certain" that its initial estimate of £56bn - itself the equivalent of a charge of £800 for every adult and child in the country - would have to be revised upwards. Inflation alone is likely to push the costs up to almost £58bn - but a closer look at conditions in some of the older nuclear sites, particularly Sellafield and Dounreay, has convinced inspectors the figure published in the NDA's strategy document last year was too low.
The £70bn figure does not include the cost of cleaning up Ministry of Defence sites, or nuclear plants owned by British Energy. Opponents of new nuclear power stations say building such plants does not make economic sense. "The cost is just absolutely astronomical," the former environment minister Michael Meacher said yesterday.
Posted by peter at January 3, 2006 03:49 PM