Euradwaste '08 - EU Bookshop - Europa

collected in the cost of the nuclear electricity production giving rise to the wastes and the collected
funds should be available when the related waste management operations are carried out. The nuclear
operators are entitled to borrow back, at the market interest, 75% of the capital against full securities.
The State has the right to borrow the remaining 25% at the same interest rate.
It is worth emphasizing that the Fund does not pay for the waste management activities but only
keeps in safe the money corresponding to the costs of the remaining measures. Theoretically, all the
funds have been returned to the operators when they have carried out all the necessary waste management
operations. As the costs of dismantling and decommissioning immediately turn to remaining
waste management costs when a nuclear facility is made critical for the first time, there is a
transition period of 25 years to collect these costs that constitute a considerable portion of the total
waste management costs.
A second and more universal financial provision system was introduced with the adoption of the
International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) as basis for the financial reporting of Finnish
public companies in 2005. IFRS requires that the waste management liabilities are accounted for in
the balance sheet. Funds for future waste management activities have to be collected by the end of
the operational lifetime of NPPs.
2.2 Practical prerequisites and principles of assessment
The implementation of spent fuel management for Olkiluoto and Loviisa NPP units is based the
Decision-in-Principle (DiP) issued by the Finnish Government in December 2000 and ratified by
the Parliament in May 2001. According to this decision, Posiva will locate its repository in crystalline
bedrock at Olkiluoto and the disposal would be based on the so called KBS-3 concept (Fig. 1).
Based on the target schedule, final disposal of spent fuel will commence in 2020.
Host rock
Backfill
KBS-3V
Bentonite
Canister
49
KBS-3H
Host rock
Bentonite
Canister
Figure 1: Schematic illustration of KBS-3 disposal concept with two alternatives
The cost estimates for financial provisions and liabilities are based on the latest detailed waste management
plans and schedules. These are revised at three years intervals; latest revision was made in
2006.