Nuclear Decommissioning Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Service Type (Immediate Dismantling, Safe Enclosure, Entombment), By Reactor Type (Pressurized Water Reactor, Boiling Water Reactor, Gas-Cooled Reactor, Others), By Capacity (Below 100 MW, 100 MW - 1000 MW, Above 1000 MW) and Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

Increased demand for energy around the world has seen the various alternative sources of energy to come up.  Increased environmental considerations regarding ozone and greenhouse gases, which result in increased temperatures, have seen renewable sources to penetrate the energy production market.

With the nuclear energy present in some particular countries around the world and with the option of generating energy using other sources which will reduce the risk of any mishappenings using nuclear energy, has seen the nuclear decommissioning to rise in these countries. Nuclear decommissioning is the process in which the nuclear facility is dismantled to that extend from where it does not require measures for radiation protection.

It generally involves decommissioning of commercial power reactors, prototype reactors, research reactors, and fuel cycle facilities. The specified life period of nuclear power plants is also the factor which will see global nuclear decommissioning market to rise in the coming years.

Based on service type, the global nuclear decommissioning market can be segmented into immediate dismantling, safe enclosure, and entombment. The immediate dismantling dominated the global nuclear decommissioning market owing to the speed of operation which makes the land available for other use. Based on the reactors, the global nuclear decommissioning market can be segmented into a pressurized water reactor, boiling water reactor, gas-cooled reactor and others.

The installations of pressurized water reactors were more in number, and therefore the decommissions done in recent years mainly involved the pressurized water boiler. Based on its capacity, the global nuclear decommissioning market is segmented into below 100 MW, 100 MW – 1000 MW, above 1000 MW. The 100 MW-1000 MW segment, held a significant market share in the market owing to the maximum presence of this ranged plants around the globe.

The major market driver for the global nuclear decommissioning market is the increased adoption of renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar, which decrease the demand for other sources of energy generation and therefore augment the nuclear-decommissioning market growth. Also the increase in number of accidents and political pressure overuse of nuclear energy will positively impact the growth of global nuclear decommissioning market.

The key market restraint for the global nuclear decommissioning market is the waste disposal and management issues faced during decommissioning. Also, the high cost due to decontamination during decommissioning can hamper the growth of the global nuclear decommissioning market.

Key Players Covered

Some of the major companies that are present in the global nuclear decommissioning market are Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Babcock International Group, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Jacobs, Manafort Brothers, Inc., BWX Technologies, Inc., Bechtel Corporation, AECOM, NUVIA, Beyond Nuclear, and Magnox Ltd.

Regional Analysis

The global nuclear decommissioning market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Currently, the North America region leads the nuclear decommissioning market owing to the end of life period of the various nuclear reactors which were installed in 19th century. US has been the dominating country in the region with presence of large number of nuclear plants. US also ranks top in terms of number of nuclear power plants.

After North America, Europe holds the maximum market for nuclear decommissioning owing to the drift towards the clean energy observed in the region, which has seen decommissioning of various nuclear reactors. Germany, France, UK are the major countries operating in the region. In Asia Pacific, Japan and South Korea are the countries that have witnessed nuclear decommissions in recent years. China and India also have nuclear energy installed which can act as an opportunity for the nuclear decommissioning market with nuclear reactors and power plants coming to end of their life cycle in coming years.

Segmentation

Key Industry Developments

• In September 2019, SNC Lavalin working in conjugation with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission completed the decommissioning of the SLOWPOKE-2 reactor which was in operation in 1981. The process for decommissioning was started in December 2017 and completed in September 2019. 


• In September 2019, UK’s Nuclear decommissioning authority completed the takeover of the nuclear decommissioning firm Magnox Ltd. owned by Cavendish Fluor Partnership (CFP). It is a management and operations contractor responsible for safely managing 12 nuclear sites and one hydroelectric plant in the UK.


• In January 2019, Comprehensive Decommissioning International LLC (CDI) which is a joint venture company of SNC Lavalin and Holtec International was awarded the contract to decommission the Oyster Creek Nuclear power plant in Lacey Township, Ocean County, New Jersey.