Cost: the unknown face of dismantling

After half a century of nuclear industry in France, the CEA and EDF are forced, for security reasons, to put some of their basic nuclear installations (nearly ten) to the final shutdown. The problem then arises of their future. Dismantle today or wait until tomorrow? The choice, unless it is made for reasons of safety and politics, is an economic choice. Being able to estimate, at their fair value, the costs of dismantling operations while respecting the established legal framework, is a new challenge that operators must take up. CEA is a pioneer in the dismantling field with eight major projects underway. This paper is devoted to the administrative aspects of dismantling (regulations, budget...): a first part is devoted to the environment in which the dismantling is located; the second deals with its costs, and a method to identify and quantify dismantling costs is proposed.