E.ON has investments in 21 working reactors in Germany and Sweden. The E.ON Group holds the majority in nine of these and is the responsible operator of six.

The performance of E.ON’s fleet is at the top of the league of European nuclear operators (1). E.ON would bring its broad experience of modern nuclear technologies, including decommissioning and waste disposal, to its development activities if the Government decides that this should be an option for energy companies in the UK.

E.ON has joined industry alliances to support Westinghouse and Areva in the pre-licensing of each company’s pressurised water reactors, and is also in discussions with GE-Hitachi in respect of its design. The technical features of these designs are explained in their applications to the UK’s environmental, safety and security regulatory authorities, and are available for public comment on the Health and Safety Executive website; there is a link opposite.  

What about waste disposal?

If the Government decides to allow energy companies to build and operate new nuclear power stations, we believe the companies involved should meet the full cost of decommissioning and their fair share of the cost of waste disposal in Government-owned facilities.

These facilities would have to be built in any event to accommodate the much larger volume of existing waste from the UK’s previous development programmes. E.ON expects that funds for decommissioning and waste disposal would be ring-fenced and subject to regulatory oversight such that the public can be confident that they will ultimately meet these costs.

The technical solutions for deep geological disposal of long-lived radioactive wastes already exist internationally and E.ON is part owner of the industry-owned company which is implementing one such solution in Sweden (SKB).

^{1 Fleet includes Brokdorf, Grafenrheinfeld, Grohnde, Isar 1 & 2 and Unterweser in Germany, which are majority owned and operated by E.ON, plus OKG 1, 2 & 3 in Sweden, which is an operating joint venture in which E.ON holds a majority.}