The commission for these funds provisionally approved the studies on decommissioning and waste disposal costs for 2011 while also taking due notice of the report on required provisions per nuclear power station and setting the new provisional annual contributions that power station operators must pay into the funds. Definitive approval by the Swiss Federal Council will follow at the end of 2012 after a thorough review by the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate, ENSI.
Alpiq takes due notice of the cost studies on the decommissioning fund for nuclear facilities and the waste disposal fund for nuclear power stations. This increase in costs is mainly due to the collective experience in tunneling, the tougher safety requirements for nuclear structures, and findings from ongoing decommissioning and waste disposal projects abroad. As a result, Alpiq will incur extra production costs of about 30 million Swiss francs a year.
Alpiq has a 40 per cent stake in the Gösgen nuclear power station and a 32.4 per cent stake in the Leibstadt nuclear power station. In addition, Alpiq is responsible for the management of the Gösgen nuclear power station.