Chapter 14 - Strategy, Planning and Costing for Decommissioning in Canada

Ontario Hydro, the public-owned electric utility in Ontario, Canada, is one of the three largest nuclear utilities in the world. Decommissioning of its CANDU nuclear stations will begin about 2012 when the first station at Pickering is scheduled to be shut down after an operating period of 40 years. Other stations at Bruce and Darlington will be shut down and decommissioned subsequently. The cost of these operations is being charged to customers and is calculated using the annuity method. In this chapter, Nihal Jayawardene and Peter Stevens-Guille describe Ontario Hydro's decommissioning policy, financial planning and method of funding future decommissioning costs. One policy requirement is that future generations should not have to pay for decommissioning costs; deferring costs far into the future is not financially prudent. The current status of public opinion in Canada on decommissioning and radioactive waste management, including the tourism value of a decommissioned reactor, also is discussed.