Nuclear Waste Disposal Fund

The Nuclear Waste Disposal Fund (German: Fonds zur Finanzierung der kerntechnischen Entsorgung) is a German federal fund to manage the financial endowment for long-term nuclear waste storage sites. The fund is organised as a trust and falls into the remit of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. However, the closure of all power stations must be followed by finding a permanent nuclear graveyard by the government's 2031 deadline.[1]

Background

In the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima in 2011, the German government decided to phase out nuclear energy production. All German nuclear power plants must therefore be shut down by 2022. Power plant operators were made responsible for the dismantling and disposal of the resulting nuclear waste. To address concerns that the disposal of nuclear waste may be dependent on the financial stability of those operators, the long-term financial responsibility was shifted to a trust fund managed by a federal government agency - the "nuclear fund" (German: "Atomfonds").[2][3][4][5][6]

The fund

On July 3, 2017, the four German nuclear power plant operators E.ON, EnBW, RWE and Vattenfall have transferred the legally stipulated basic contribution of € 17.9 billion as well as a 35 percent risk premium of € 6.2 billion to the Bundesbank. The resulting sum of € 24.1 billion euros represents the capital stock of the nuclear fund.[7][8][9]

In the future, the fund is expected invest its assets in the capital markets and fund the search for suitable intermediate and final waste storage sites with the help of investment income. The selection of the investment instruments of this first German sovereign wealth fund are based on sustainability criteria and must be in line with Environment Social Governance.[10][11]

Anja Mikus has been appointed CEO of the fund.[12][13]

Investments

As of July 2018, the fund has invested about 10% of its assets. € 2.5 billion had been invested in highly liquid government bonds. The remaining assets were held as cash with the Bundesbank which resulted in a loss of € 70 million in the funds first year due to the negative interest environment.[14]

See also

Nuclear Power in Germany

References
  1. "Germany is closing all its nuclear power plants. Now it must find a place to bury the deadly waste for 1 million years". CNN. 30 November 2019.
  2. "German utilities buy out of nuclear waste liability for 23.6 bln euros". Clean Energy Wire. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  3. Drozdiak, Natalia; Busche, Jenny (2015-03-22). "Germany's Nuclear Costs Trigger Fears". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  4. Editorial, Reuters. "EU approves German fund for managing radioactive waste". U.S. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  5. "German Utilities Get Long-Sought Deal on Nuclear Storage". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  6. "Responsibility for German Nuclear Waste Shifts With Creation of State-owned Fund | Latham.London | Latham & Watkins". Latham.London. 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  7. "Germany readies $26 billion fund for nuclear waste disposal". The Seattle Times. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  8. Energie, Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und. "Kernkraftwerksbetreiber haben Einzahlungen an nuklearen Entsorgungsfonds in Höhe von rd. 24 Milliarden Euro geleistet". www.bmwi.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  9. "Deutschland erzielte 2017 dank Atomfonds Rekordüberschuss - derStandard.at". DER STANDARD. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  10. "F.A.S. exklusiv: Atomfonds will nachhaltig anlegen". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  11. "Clifford Chance | Clifford Chance berät ersten deutschen Staatsfonds zur Finanzierung der kerntechnischen Entsorgung". Clifford Chance. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  12. "Atomfonds: Was mit dem Geld von Eon und RWE passieren soll - manager magazin". manager magazin. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  13. "Sustainability CIO to head Germany's nuclear phase-out fund". Modern Investor. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  14. "Atommüll-Finanzierung: Staatlicher Atomfonds verliert wegen Negativzinsen auch nach einem Jahr noch Geld" (in German). Retrieved 2018-08-07.

www.entsorgungsfonds.de

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