nuclear decommissioning services Market

The nuclear decommissioning services market was valued at US$ 5.82 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 9.43 billion by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2020 to 2027.

As large number of nuclear power plants are nearing the end of the operational timeline, the operators and the governments are planning to decommission the facilities, which is driving the growth of nuclear decommissioning services market. In the recent scenario, the decommissioning of nuclear facilities is outpacing the construction of newer facilities across the major regions around the globe. According to the World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR), during the mid-2018, 115 nuclear reactors have been decommissioned, and approximately 70% of the world's nuclear reactors, which accounts to 173 reactors, have been permanently shut down. These statistics showcase the demand for decommissioning services, which is catalyzing the nuclear decommissioning services market. The average lifespan of nuclear power plants across the globe is 30 years; however, with refurbishments, several numbers of facilities continue to operate for another 20-30 years. Owing to the fact that the majority of the governments are inclined toward the construction of newer nuclear facilities with advanced technologies, the focus on decommissioning of older facilities is increasing,  which is increasing the involvement of decommissioning service providers in the industry.

Geographically, several countries have laid-down their roadmaps and plan to decommission the nuclear facilities. For instance, in Europe, Germany, Spain, and Belgium are aiming to decommission its ageing nuclear power facilities by mid-2020s-2030s completely. France declared its plans to shut down 14 of 58 nuclear reactors by 2035. The UK is expected to decommission all 15 reactors by 2030. Moreover, in Asia, Japan is expected to shut down its 6 nuclear power plants by 2030, while South Korea has announced its plans to decommissioning 6 of 24 reactors by mid-2020. These figures showcase the demand for decommissioning services, which is anticipated to propel the nuclear decommissioning services market over the years.

AECOM, Ansaldo Energia, Babcock International Group Plc., Betchel Corporation, EnergySolutions, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Onet SA, Orano, Studsvik AB, Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, Sogin S.p.A, Fluor Corporation, Nuvia Limited, Northstar Group Services, Inc., Manafort Brothers Incorporated, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power are some of the well-established companies as well as financially balanced players present in the nuclear decommissioning services market.

Over the years, the nuclear decommissioning services market players have been operating manually with a massive workforce. This consumes more time for decommissioning an entire nuclear power plant. Additionally, operating a massive workforce in a nuclear power facility exposes the workforce to the risk of radioactive materials existing at the site. Attributing to these factors, the nuclear decommissioning services market players are focusing on robotic technologies, which are foreseen to pace up the decommissioning activity and also to reduce the cost of the process. This factor is expected to catalyze the nuclear decommissioning services market in the coming years. At present, the cost incurred in decommissioning a nuclear power plant is approximately US$ 3.73 billion annually, which is estimated to surge over the years, the need for advanced technologies is surging among the nuclear decommissioning services market players. Thus, the market is poised to provide numerous profitable business opportunities for the market players during the forecast period.  

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market

Globally, the COVID-19 outbreak has weakened various activities across industries. However, the energy and power generation industry is also hit hard by the outbreak due to limited manpower and disruption in supply chain of components and services. During this outbreak, several nuclear decommissioning services market players have operated with restricted manpower in various countries; whereas, in several countries, the activity of nuclear decommissioning is put on hold owing to imposition of lockdown measures by respective governments. For instance, the European countries have been exercising termination of nuclear power plant activities, thereby requiring decommissioning services. Several nuclear facilities ended respective operation in 2019 owing to political concerns or reaching end of operational lifecycle. The countries with higher number of COVID-19 cases in the European region include France, Germany, Russia, UK, and Italy. The French nuclear decommissioning services market was hit the hardest attributing to the fact that, the country has terminated its oldest nuclear power plant, such as the Fessenheim nuclear power plant, in early 2020, and is yet to start with decommission activities.