Like other energy sources, nuclear energy has risks and benefits that need to be fully recognised and assessed to evaluate its external costs. In the process, it is essential to analyse the direct economic costs of nuclear-generated electricity in order to delineate accurately the boundary between economic (internalised) costs and potential external costs, and to indicate the potential impact on total costs if the external costs were internalised. Indeed, an externality exists if, and only if, some negative or positive impact is generated by an economic activity and imposed on third parties, and that impact is not priced in the market place. Aspects of nuclear energy that often are suggested to entail external costs include: future financial liabilities arising from decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear facilities, health and environmental impacts of radioactivity releases in routine operation, radioactive waste disposal and effects of severe accidents. It has to be acknowledged that those aspects could become external costs if adequate funds for discharging them would not be established on a timely basis, guaranteed through reliable and independent bodies, and included in the costs (and the market price) of nuclear-generated electricity. However, a number of mechanisms have been established to provide such funds, thereby largely internalising these potential externalities, as highlighted in the following paragraphs.
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