Tepco -Cleanup for fukushima costs to double to 125 billion !
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jbDwBCdfyO8lz4LNAYPgq...
"The utility -- one of the world's biggest -- received one trillion yen of public cash in April in exchange for granting the government a controlling stake.
The money was on top of previous grants and loans. It was intended to prevent the company, which generates and supplies electricity to millions of people, including in and around Tokyo, from going under.
But on Wednesday, as it presented a new management plan, TEPCO said it was looking at a bill of up to 10 trillion yen ($125 billion) -- equal to around two percent of Japan's gross domestic product or 11 percent of the country's annual budget.
The company said it would need more government help to meet the colossal figure."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jbDwBCdfyO8lz4LNAYPgq...
“Admitting to the immense scale of the catastrophe”
“Tepco underestimated the cost involved at first, probably because it would be criticized by the public by admitting to the immense scale of the catastrophe.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/07/us-tepco-fukushima-idUSBRE8A60...
Tepco seeks more government support as Fukushima costs soar
TOKYO (Reuters) Wed Nov 7, 2012 4:17am EST By Osamu Tsukimori
Fukushima nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) said on Wednesday it would have to seek more government funds to tackle the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, as cleanup costs soar four months after the utility was nationalized. "If the costs ballooned to 10 trillion yen, double our estimate of a few months ago, we could not shoulder such a financial burden," the company said in a statement. "It is unavoidable that we will have to revise the current financial support framework," Tepco Chairman Kazuhiko Shimokobe told a news conference.
Minister for National Policy Seiji Maehara, addressing a separate briefing, said: "For the foreseeable future Tepco will remain under the control of the government and we will have to support the company."
Masashi Goto, a retired power plant designer and university lecturer, said technological and other uncertainties made it hard to estimate final costs of clean-up and decommissioning. "It also appears that Tepco underestimated the cost involved at first, probably because it would be criticized by the public by admitting to the immense scale of the catastrophe," he said. He said costs were likely to increase as decommissioning work, likely to take decades, progresses.
Yes, $5T is more than ¥10T
Yes, $5T is more than ¥10T
TEPCO's business strategy for fiscal 2013 and 2014, noted that nuclear disaster costs could TOP 10 trillion yen.
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2012/11/192780.html
Edano cautious about offering more support to TEPCO - TOKYO, Nov. 8, 22:11, Kyodo
Industry minister Yukio Edano on Thursday told reporters in Tokyo, "First of all, it is important that the company … fulfill its responsibilities," a day after TEPCO called on the government to consider creating a new support program for it.
The request was made in TEPCO's business strategy for fiscal 2013 and 2014, which noted that total costs for decontamination work, compensation and other expenses related to the nuclear disaster could top 10 trillion yen.