The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan has revised upward the costs related to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, i.e. compensation costs and decommissioning costs, which may double the initial estimate to more than Yen 20,000bn (US$176bn).
In late 2013, the METI had estimated decontamination works at Yen 2,500bn, interim radioactive waste storage construction at Yen 1,100bn, decommissioning works at Yen 2,000bn and compensation payments at Yen 5,400bn, or a total of Yen 11,000bn. In the new METI estimates, compensation payments would surge to Yen 8,000bn (US$71bn) and decontamination works to Yen 4,000-5,000bn (US$35-44bn), due to the increase in the number of people eligible for damages and difficulties met in decontaminating the site. Decommissioning works should also swell from the current Yen 80bn/year (US$710m/year), adding several trillion yen to the overall cost.
Japanese utility TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, will pass part of the cost on to consumers through tariff increase. The METI will also seek to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Finance to expand an interest-free loan programme from Yen 9,000bn (US$80bn) to support TEPCO.
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