In the case of decommissioning nuclear facilities in Korea, the dismantling activities will be initiated after obtaining approval from the regulatory agency for the Final Decommissioning Plan (FDP). The contents to be described in the FDP are presented in the notice of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, and among them, it is suggested to estimate and provide the basis for the decommissioning cost. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is used for schedule management for the project, and the performance activities can be used as a cost management structure as well as schedule management. In order to easily manage the process and cost, the WBS structure can be normally used, and at this time, there might be a connection with ISDC if necessary. Therefore, this study aims to examine the link between activities from the WBS structure to ISDC in the decommissioning project. In general, the activities assumed as a WBS structure in this study in carrying out the decommissioning project were derived at the Level 1 and Level 2. Activities at Level 1 can be classified into project management costs, controlled area dismantling, conventional area dismantling, site remediation, waste treatment facility, construction/service, R&D, waste treatment and disposal, and characterization. For Level 2 activities, a cost activities embodied in Level 1 was derived. ISDC was developed by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) decommissioning cost estimation group, which improves ambiguous cost systems and presents common cost items for direct comparison between international decommissioning projects. The ISDC consists of Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3, where Level 1 represents the principal activity, Level 2 represents the activity group, and Level 3 represents the typical activity. The cost categories for typical activity at Level 3 consist of labour, investment, expenses, and contingency. In this study, the connection between WBS and ISDC was shown, and a comparison was made at Level 2. Directly, one-on-one matches have difficulties, and as much as possible, they were organized into similar items. We arranged the Level 2 linked to ISDC based on WBS. If there is a difficulty in one-on-one matches, it seems that the accurate cost calculation of ISDC items should consider the impact of additional cost distribution. Therefore, in order to calculate ISDC costs, it seems necessary to organize cost items of WBS in consideration of the ISDC.

When decommissioning nuclear power plant (NPP), the first task performed is cost estimation. This is an important task in terms of securing adequate decommissioning funds and managing the schedule. Therefore, many countries and institutions are conducting continuous research and also developing and using many programs for cost estimation. However, the cost estimated for decommissioning an NPP typically differs from the actual cost incurred in its decommissioning. This is caused by insufficient experience in decommissioning NPPs or lack of decommissioning cost data. This uncertainty in cost estimation can be in general compensated for by applying a contingency. However, reflecting an appropriate standard for the contingency is also difficult. Therefore, in this study, data analysis was conducted based on the contingency guideline suggested by each institution and the actual cost of decommissioning the NPP. Subsequently, TLG Service, Inc.’s process, which recently suggested specific decommissioning costs, was matched with ISDC (International Structure for Decommissioning Costing)’s work breakdown structure (WBS). Based on the matching result, the guideline for applying the contingency for ISDC’s WBS Level 1 were presented. This study will be helpful in cost estimation by applying appropriate contingency guidelines in countries or institutions that have no experience in decommissioning NPPs.