Thursday, December 19, 2013

TEPCO to Set Up "Decommission Company" as a Separate Division Within TEPCO, National Government to Support TEPCO with 10 Trillion Yen


Details are to be announced By TEPCO's president Naomi Hirose at a press conference starting at 5PM, December 20, 2013, according to TEPCO's tweet.

"Decommission Company" is not going to be a separate company with separate capital but a company within TEPCO, more like a division. The idea was first floated in October this year at an LDP work group on recovery and reconstruction.

Now, why would they do that, instead of setting up a separate company? I have some ideas but they are not firm yet. I'll wait till I hear Mr. Hirose.

This "Decommission Company" will be in charge of decommissioning Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant and dealing with contaminated water at the plant. Two disparate objectives it seems to me, but clearly not to LDP or TEPCO.

Reuters Japan reports (12/20/2013) that the national government will increase the amount of loan to TEPCO for decontamination and compensation from 5 trillion yen to 9 trillion yen. In addition, the government will pay 1.1 trillion yen to cover the cost to build the intermediate storage facilities for the contaminated soil removed as the result of decontamination. The cost of building the intermediate storage facilities was to be paid by TEPCO.

Total support of over 10 trillion yen, with the national government paying, not just TEPCO. Now it's getting halfway to the amount that some people say will cost to decommission and decontaminate.

If Japan had been to print money in great quantity and spend it, it would have been after March 2011. It didn't. The government of Democratic Party of Japan, whether under Naoto Kan or Yoshihiko Noda, was too busy putting the blame of the accident on TEPCO and looking for cheap solutions. They sure found the cheapest solution: talk.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not sure about the DPJ but the LDP nuclear energy policy and how it has been implemented (NISA and what not) is the root cause of the Fukushima disaster.
The LDP solution to Fukushima is more money thrown at the nuclear industry and those who profit from a ridiculous number of subcontracting levels.
Did 25% of Japan want the LDP back? Now they have it.

Anonymous said...

20 trillion yen to decontaminate and decommission?

Bwahahahahahahahaha. How about at least one order of magnitude greater!

You can throw as much money as exists in the world at Fukushima daichi, it's not going away

Anonymous said...

I thought the cheapest "solution" was locking up anyone who realizes there's a problem. Certainly seems to be the most popular "solution" nowadays.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Locking up costs real money.

Anonymous said...

laprimavera, I always get lost between short and long scale billions and trillions. Of course, maybe no one else has this problem, but maybe it would be possible to include the rough equivalent dollar value in any applicable posts in the future?
Thanks for your consideration.
*mscharisma*

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

mscharisma, sorry about that. I usually do, but ever since 100 yen became about US$1, I've been lazy. 10 trillion yen is 100 billion USD, only slightly more than the US Fed (75 billion USD) or Japan's BOJ (70 billion USD) is monetizing EVERY SINGLE MONTH.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, laprimavera.
*mscharisma*

Anonymous said...

How could I forget that locking up costs real money...
Not like it matters to them either way.

VyseLegendaire said...

Nuclear plant construction: $ 5-10 Billion (?)
Nuclear catatrophe 'clean-up': 100s of Billions
Being conscripted to sacrifice your life for a futile mock-cleanup charade for the sake of the nuclear industry and the TEPGOV plutocrats: priceless

Anonymous said...

A mock cleanup charade paired up with hosting the Olympics in a spirit of goodwill -- priceless.

A cleanup, like this years ago?

Sailors on old warship dumped thousands of tons of radioactive waste for years
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/the-atomic-sailors/2157927

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