Russia’s nuclear plants are ageing. Who will pay to dismantle them?

Russia’s aging nuclear power plants, some over 50 years old, pose increasing risks while the country continues to build new plants abroad. The decommissioning of facilities like Lithuania’s Ignalina plant has proven extremely costly and lengthy, with expenses reaching over 3.7 billion euros by 2020 and the process expected to extend until 2049. Rosenergoatom plans to decommission 35 reactors but faces a funding shortfall of approximately 18.7 billion euros, with total costs estimated at around 21 billion euros. The issue of financing for these decommissioning efforts is largely overlooked by Russia.