The Japanese Government Can't Afford to Tell the Truth About Fukushima

[Junkdrawer]

Back in the dawn of the Nuclear Industry, when the costs of a meltdown were calculated, a funny thing happened: no insurance company wanted to touch it. So governments stepped in and insured the power companies at tax payer risk. In the US, it was the Price-Anderson Act. The same thing is true in Japan.

This is profound. Because normally it's the job of government to force the industry to do the right thing. But now, every yen of cleanup and relocation costs are born by tax payers. And Japan, with the highest per-capita deficits in the world, may not be able to pay all the costs. Especially if, say, a 50 mile or 100 mile evacuation zone were declared and if this zone were later to become permanent.

Atomic Cleanup Cost Goes to Japan's Taxpayers, May Spur Liability Shift

Japan’s taxpayer, not the nuclear industry or insurers, will cover most of the cleanup cost from the worst accident since Chernobyl, a financial rescue that may spur moves by nations to make companies assume more liability.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., in its 13th day fighting to avert a meltdown at its Fukushima plant 220 kilometers (135 miles) north of Tokyo, at most is required to cover third-party damages of 120 billion yen ($2.1 billion) under Japanese law. Should the government declare the magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami that flooded its reactors an “exceptional” act of God, the utility may be off the hook in paying compensation that may be demanded by injured workers, farmers and shareholders.

...

The Japanese government may pay as much as 1 trillion yen to compensate businesses and individuals for damages from the nuclear accident, or eight times the maximum cost for Tokyo Electric, the Tokyo Shimbun reported on March 12, without saying where it got the information

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-23/nuclear-cleanup-cost-goes-to-japan-s-taxpayers-may-spur-liability-shift.html

It's time to repeal the Price-Anderson Act. If nuclear power is so safe, let them buy insurance like any other industry.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. The pwer compny didn't install any walls to prevent tsunamis

you would think that the power company would have installed some sort of sea wall to stop a tsunami hitting the plant?

[Kablooie]

9. They did have tsunami walls. It was anticipated. But they were 15 feet. The water was 25.

No one expected a 9.0 earthquake and a 25 foot tsunami.
It was considered such a rare occurrence, once in thousands of years, that the didn't plan for it.

[Octafish]

12. One guy did warn about such an occurrence. He was ignored by TEPCO, GoJ, etc.

Japan earthquake: Japan warned over nuclear plants, WikiLeaks cables show

Japan was warned more than two years ago by the international nuclear watchdog that its nuclear power plants were not capable of withstanding powerful earthquakes, leaked diplomatic cables reveal.

[Bonobo]

2. Well, the taxpayers would just wind up bailing out the insurance company anyway. nt

[Junkdrawer]

3. I don't like the idea that the party who would bear the costs is the party...

who decides the size of the evacuation zone.

If power companies had to insure reactors with private insurance, none would be built.

[kristopher]

5. The companies wouldn't be able to afford to pay the premium and NPP would close.

Insurance like this is a real and legitimate cost of doing business. In a market system it is the way certain external costs are brought back into the picture. It is a huge subsidy that gives nuclear power an comptitive advantage that cannot be justified in the marketplace of today's energy technologies.

Anatono kimochiga yokuwakateimasu. Ema no minano jotaiwa taihen datoomoukedo, kujikezuni gambatte kudasai.

And stay safe.

[Bonobo]

6. I completely agree.

Sore de goshinsetsu na kotoba wo arigatou gozaimasu.

moshi kono aida shiturei na koto wo itte shimattara owabi itashimasu.

[kristopher]

7. Ii.

Kinishinaide kudasai.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Way more than a Trillion Yen if There is a 50 mile Exclusion Zone

A 50 Mile Radius is 5 Million Acres. Some of that is in the water, so make it 3 million acres.

The loss in the land value alone would surely be more than a trillion yen.
Then tally the loss of everything that is on that land.
All radioactive and unusable forever.

[fascisthunter]

8. I Would hope this is Shared Globally with One Condition

no more nukes... it's going to take the global community to save Japan. We are all getting effected by this disaster...

[emsimon33]

10. Amen!

I never trusted the bastards.

[Junkdrawer]

11. Kick

:kick: