Invoice of ¥21.5 Trillion

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released on Friday new estimation of total cost of the accident in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, or 1F, which amounted to ¥21.5 trillion. The ministry assumes it to be collected through additional fee on electric appliances, while requiring further reform to Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO. As no person can escape from using electricity, the estimation was an announcement of new tax or invoice to the people in Japan.

Committee on TEPCO Reform and 1F Issue in METI made the estimation. Although the ministry had been supposing total cost of the accident, including dismantlement of broken facility in 1F and compensation to the sufferers around the plant, to be ¥11 trillion. While the ministry estimated the cost for dismantlement to be ¥2 trillion, it had increased to ¥8 trillion, due to unexpected cost for retrieving nuclear fuel having melted down from the reactor. The burden will be added to TEPCO, which means higher appliance fee.

The amount for compensation swell from ¥5.4 trillion to ¥7.9 trillion. While TEPCO has been looking for houses for evacuees from 1F area, the number of needed rooms and the renting price kept on increasing. The cost for it will be paid by all electric power companies in Japan, except Okinawa Electric Power Company unrelated to nuclear power generation, which means another additional fee on electric appliance.

Caused by increase of salary for the workers, the cost for decontamination of land around the plant will be ¥4 trillion with additional estimation of ¥1.5 trillion. Although the national government is going to pay by selling the stocks, the price of the stocks needs to be three times higher than current level to earn it. With increase of transportation cost, the estimation for stocking contaminated soil will be ¥1.6 trillion, with additional ¥0.5 trillion, owing it to national budget.

The additional amount for compensation, ¥2.5 trillion, will be collected from appliance fee in all over Japan except Okinawa within forty years. In another word, it will be a new tax on the people. The government will keep on supporting TEPCO, anyway. While requiring establishment of joint venture with other electric power companies for distribution network or nuclear power generation, the government will increase the amount of delivery bond from ¥9 trillion to ¥13.5 trillion.

In spite of all those negative elements for management, the government still insists on survival of TEPCO. The committee made a proposal for TEPCO reform with three steps, reducing cost for distribution, resumption of operation in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata and the joint venture with other companies. Ignoring the opinion for independence from nuclear energy, the government still depends on nuclear power.