NEA Mandates and Structures

Expert Group on Costing for Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (EGCDL)

Mandate (Document reference):

• Sub-Group Reporting to the Parent Committee Document [NEA/CDLM/RWMC(2019)2]
• Summary Record of the First Meeting of the Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management [NEA/DLM/M(2019)6/FINAL]
• Summary Record of the Bureau Meeting of the Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (CDLM) on 24 January 2020 [NEA/DLM/M(2020)2/FINAL]
• Summary Record of the Extraordinary Bureau Meeting of the Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (CDLM) on 16 April 2020  [NEA/DLM/M(2020)3/FINAL]
• CDLM Structure Development Proposal [NEA/DLM(2020)9]
• Draft Summary Record of the Second Plenary Meeting of the CDLM [NEA/DLM/M(2021)2/FINAL]
• Mandate of the Working Party on Management and Organisational Aspects of De-commissioning and Legacy Management (WPMO) [NEA/DLM(2021)2/FINAL]
• End-of-Mandate Report of the Expert Group on Costing for Decommissioning and Legacy Management (EGCDL) 2020-2022 [NEA/DLM(2022)3/FINAL]
• Summary Record of First Plenary Meeting of the Working Party on Management and Organisational Aspects of Decommissioning and Legacy Management (WPMO) on 26-27 January 2022 [NEA/DLM/M(2022)3/PROV]
• Mandate of the Expert Group on Costing for Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (EGCDL) [NEA/DLM(2022)6/FINAL]

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract of document NEA/DLM(2022)6/FINAL

Background

Establishing reliable cost estimates is an essential element of planning for decommissioning and legacy management projects. Quality cost estimates are necessary to ensure that the plans for decommissioning and legacy management projects are economically sound and provide a realistic basis for financial decisions. Quality cost estimates are also essential elements in wider aspects of project oversight, to include measures to control costs, meet deadlines, and completion of performance targets during project activities.

Building upon the work of the former Decommissioning Cost Estimation Group (DCEG) focused primarily on nuclear power plants, there is a need to accurately calculate and demonstrate the validity of cost estimates for decommissioning and legacy management projects. There is a general trend towards showing greater levels of detail in cost estimates and providing a more explicit representation of the uncertainties bearing upon the final cost of projects. In order to enhance understanding of the estimate and confidence in the results, the analyses and calculations underpinning these provisions need to be traceable, the processes need to be comprehensible, and the estimated output should clearly correlate with the input data. It is therefore important to also consider aspects of quality assurance and how these aspects are addressed in an estimate. Cost estimating tools must continually improve to keep pace with evolving good practices, requirements, and stakeholder issues.

Scope

The EGCDL will address costing issues for decommissioning of nuclear installations and legacy management as a level three expert group.

Mandate

In order to further work on the development of approaches on costing issues, the Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (CDLM) committed to establish an Expert Group on Costing for Decommissioning and Legacy Management (EGCDL). EGCDL will work under the guidance of the Working Party on Management and Organisational Aspects of Decommissioning and Legacy Management (WPMO) and will:

1. foster the exchange of information, knowledge and experience between its members on issues concerned with cost estimation, with a view to promoting collective learning and to enhance the credibility, reliability, and auditability of the cost estimation process;
2. describe good practices in the field of cost estimation for decommissioning and legacy management projects, including understanding of the risks associated with financial consequences in regards to cost estimating and financing; and planning for uncertainties, with an overall aim to assist organisation members to develop robust and efficient project management processes, and examine the scope for achieving consensus on overall objectives and for developing common approaches;
3. advise the WPMO on major and emerging issues in the area of cost estimation for decommissioning and legacy management, and provide appraisals of the state of the art with a view to consolidating knowledge and making it transferable to a variety of different audiences;
4. define, conduct and oversee studies aimed at improving the transparency and reproducibility of cost estimates, including approaches to presentation and reporting estimates;
5. where necessary, organise topical sessions or workshops on specific topics of interest to the expert group and to the WPMO.

Working methods

The mode of operation of the EGCDL is based upon plenary meetings and an ongoing, project-oriented, working programme.

A Bureau consisting of the Chair and one or more Vice-Chairs will coordinate and facilitate the work of the EGCDL. The Bureau would normally meet once or twice a year, with one meeting normally held in conjunction with the annual EGCDL plenary meeting.

Communication within the EGCDL will primarily take place through annual plenary meetings. The plenary meeting will be devoted to the following:

• exchange of information on recent developments in the member countries;
• in-depth discussions of current developments and of topical issues, where additional specialists may also be invited;
• the identification of main lessons to be reported to the WPMO, including organising topical sessions at the WPMO plenary meetings; and
• the discussion and coordination of the working programme.

EGCDL will report to the WPMO.

Additionally, the EGCDL: (i) will identify resources and schedules for its activities; (ii) will form task teams to work on specific projects and to organise workshops, as appropriate; and (iii) will annually review the programme of work and the effectiveness of the programme.

In fulfilling its Mandate, the EGCDL will be primarily supported by the staff of the NEA Division of Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning.

Membership

The EGCDL is a task-oriented expert group. It will aim for a composition which includes a diverse range of experts in the field of cost estimation for decommissioning and legacy management, nominated by the member organisations of the CDLM and WPMO. This representation will be wide-ranging, including policymakers, regulators, implementers, and specialists in decommissioning and legacy management.

Interactions

The work of the EGCDL is complementary to that of the IAEA and the European Commission, and will provide input relevant to the activities of these institutions, as appropriate.

Through the WPMO and the NEA Secretariat, the EGCDL will co-operate with other NEA standing technical committees and their subsidiary bodies when relevant, in particular, those of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC), and the Committee for Technical and Economic Studies on Nuclear Development and the Fuel Cycle (NDC). It may also collaborate with the Cooperative Programme on Decommissioning (CPD). The EGCDL will also co-operate with other CDLM groups, such as the Working Party on Technical, Environmental and Safety Aspects of Decommissioning and Legacy Management (WPTES) and the Expert Group on a Holistic Process for Decision Making on Decommissioning and Management of Complex Sites (HDCS), to leverage the expertise in the area of costing and encourage knowledge sharing.

Deliverables

The expert group will produce a report with the support of the Secretariat.