Financing of operation and decommissioning
Although the construction and operation of repositories is a federal task, the costs incurred are invoiced to the waste producers on a pro-rata basis. The State is just responsible for the funding of the dismantling and decommissioning of those nuclear installations
- that were operated by the federation or the federal states themselves,
- that were taken over from other operators by the federation, or
- for which ownership passed over to the Federal Republic of Germany with the unification.
Since the Morsleben repository is an installation under § 9a Atomic Energy Act, it belongs to the latter category, as well. Correspondingly, its operation and future decommissioning are entirely financed by State funds.
Financing in the former GDR
The costs and revenue that incurred in the former GDR cannot be reconstructed today. This applies e.g. to the costs for the construction of the Morsleben repository in the former Bartensleben salt mine and to the costs for its operation. Furthermore, this applies to the fees the waste producers in the GDR had to pay for storing the radioactive waste.
Financing since unification
From 1990 to 2014, the Morsleben repository for radioactive waste entailed costs of about 1.1 billion euros. On the other hand, revenue of about 151 million euros was collected through radioactive waste storage between 1991 and 1998. The difference and the annually incurring costs until decommissioning started, are completely funded by taxes. The federal budget 2015 provides for 50 million euros for this purpose.
Costs of decommissioning
Due to the uncertainties associated with the course of the nuclear plan-approval procedure for the decommissioning of the repository, data on the total costs of decommissioning is only approximate. Preliminary estimations assume that the implementation of the planned decommissioning measures in accordance with the plan-approval decision will cost about 1.2 billion euros (uncertainty plus/minus 30 per cent).
State of 2016.06.21