Government insists operators will pick up nuclear waste tab

The government has announced that energy providers set to control newly built UK nuclear plants will have to pay for the decommissioning and storage of nuclear waste produced, according to today's Telegraph.

Companies will be required to provide detailed plans and budgets on the proposed decommissioning of their power station, and how waste will be safely stored and disposed of, all before building work begins. The government has also set a fixed unit price for the disposal of "mmediate level waste" for the first time.

From the day they start generating electricity, they will also have to pay into an independently run clean-up fund, according to the article.

Speaking at the publication today of the draft guidance for the government's planned energy bill, Business Secretary John Hutton said: "It is in the national interest that we take every step to ensure that the taxpayer is protected from the cleanup costs down the line."

The guidance also emphasised that power companies would be liable by law to meet the full costs. "Funds will be sufficient, secure and independent" Hutton said, promising that measures will be taken by the Government to guard against shortfalls.

Since the government announced its plans for an expansion of nuclear power as a carbon-cutting energy solution last month, French power giant Areva and British Energy have expressed an interest in building new nuclear facilities.

The first next-generation power station could seemingly be operation by 2017, with Sizewell, Bradwell, Hinkley or Dungeness being hotly tipped locations of choice.

The energy companies are likely to welcome the new proposals, according to Dr Tim Stone, a senior financier and government adviser, who told The Telegraph that the plan to ensure decommissioning and storage costs are budgeted and reviewed every five years should give the power industry "certainty about costs ".