German Utilities Face Nuclear Clean-Up Bill of $26 Billion

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The nuclear commission advising the German government on its phasing out of nuclear power wants the four key utility companies to pay more than 23 billion euro ($26.4 billion) toward the decommissioning of their plants.

The KFK (Kommission zur Uberprufung des Kernenergieausstiegs) said it wants to ensure there is enough money to cover the costs of decommissioning and treating nuclear waste. Germany's government has made it clear over the past year that the utilities, not the taxpayer, should foot the bill. The utilities, which include Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) (FWB:EBK) (Karlsruhe, Germany), RWE AG (FWB:RWE) (Essen, Germany), E.ON SE (FWB:EOAN) (Düsseldorf) and Sweden's Vattenfall AB (Stockholm), have rejected the sum as too high and said that the addition of a 35% "risk premium" is unfair.

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in Japan in early 2011, the German government announced a surprise u-turn on nuclear power, revealing that it aimed to close all 17 reactors over the coming next decade. For additional information, see May 30, 2011, article--Germany Votes to Dump Nuclear Power.

The commission's chairman, Matthias Platzeck, claimed the fund would ensure that "German society can survive."

In a statement, the commission outlined: "The tasks of storing and final disposal of radioactive waste and the necessary funds are transferred to the state as security. For the remaining tasks, in particular the decommissioning and dismantling of the nuclear power plants and the packaging of waste, they and the financial security remain with the company."

However, in a joint statement from EnBW, E.ON and RWE, the utilities argued that the costs were too burdensome.

"Today in Berlin, the KFK commission has announced its suggestions on financing the phase out of nuclear power generation in Germany. The suggestions include a huge risk premium and overburden the concerned energy companies' economic capabilities. Thus, the energy companies cannot accept the suggestions as they are least of all due to their responsibilities towards their employees, their customers and their shareholders."

Before the Fukushima accident in 2011, Germany generated almost a quarter of its electricity from 17 nuclear reactors. After the accident, the government ordered that the oldest reactors be shut down for safety reasons. Today, Germany gets around 16% of its power from the remaining operational eight reactors, which it wants shut down by 2022. For additional information, see March 18, 2011, article--Germany to Shut Down Oldest Nuclear Power Stations.

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