ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the wide and varied legal ramifications of decommissioning. The absence of express legislation relating to decommissioning can be explained–though not necessarily excused–by a political reluctance to prescribe precise procedures and standards in an area where practical experience remains limited and where the demand for maintaining flexibility is reinforced by the long timescales involved. The chapter explores the issue of decommissioning by considering how it is treated in the legal framework that governs the main stages of the development and operation of a nuclear generating station. It considers whether the actual decision to decommission an existing power station requires any further planning-type consents under existing law–an untested but potentially significant area of the law. In the absence of specific legislation governing decommissioning, the primary responsibilities fall to the operators of the power plants, a circumstance not lost on those involved in privatization.
