Nuclear costs hit £73 billion

MPs have claimed the cost of the UK Nuclear decommission will hit figures in excess of £73 billion, although this cost will include running the current plants that are open.

January 2008 saw the launch of a new scheme which allowed energy companies to invest in Nuclear power, aslong as the oiperators met strict standards and provide enough capital for the decommissioning of new facilities and that they bear the full cost for waste management.

Since this action, the UK has seen a 30 per cent increase, since 2003, spent on the Nuclear clean up, to its current figure £73 billion.

The PAC chairman has suggested that the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform had not been able to provide a complete breakdown of costs, and not confirmed whether the commercial Nuclear clean up wuld be at the tax payers expense once more.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are doing everything in their power to increase the decommissioning works, and to ensure that companies that are creating the waste, have it cleaned up, although there is some speculation on the cost of a professional nuclear clean up, something which has been slightly uncertain for around 50 years.