Chapter 22 - Financial Implications of Early Decommissioning

James G. Hewlett

The Energy Journal, 1991, vol. Volume 12, issue Special Issue, 279-292

Abstract: There are three generalized timing possibilities for decommissioning: at the end of the original operating license, after some period of life extension, or sometime before the end of normal service. In this companion piece to his discussion of life extension in Chapter 20, James Hewlett addresses the third option. Premature decommissioning can arise--as it did for Unit 2 of Three Mile Island--from an accident, or--more commonly-because it may be cheaper to close the facility than to have it continue in operation. The economic implication of premature closure is one of potentially insufficient fund accumulation. As Hewlett points out, the decision to close a plant is complicated by decommissioning considerations; for example, the decision could depend in part on the status of the accumulated funds. Such a decision also can influence plans for new construction since it may delay the time of closure for existing plants. State regulatory bodies in the United States influence such decisions through their control over rates of return. In the end, decommissioning cost considerations often influence decommissioning timing.

JEL-codes: F0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1991
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.iaee.org/en/publications/ejarticle.aspx?id=1007 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to IAEE members and subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aen:journl:1991si-a22

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.iaee.org/en/publications/ejsearch.aspx

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in The Energy Journal from International Association for Energy Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by David Williams ().