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Costly closure

14 October 2000

The UK Atomic Energy Authority has announced that decommissioning its nuclear
complex at Dounreay in Scotland will cost £4 billion and take 60 years.
Andy Munn of the UKAEA says contamination with low-level waste will keep some
areas out of bounds for the next 300 years. The costing may be conservative,
however. “Decommissioning is virtually an open chequebook. Once you start work
you’re committed and you just spend, spend, spend,” says John Large, an
independent nuclear consultant.

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