Japan’s Fukushima disaster costs double to almost $200bn
Officials say the decommissioning of the wrecked Fukushima reactors will take several decades. The cost is now estimated at $70 billion (8 trillion yen), quadruple an earlier projection of $17.5 billion (2 trillion yen).
TEPCO`s portion of the bill has more than doubled to $138 billion (15.9 trillion yen) from $63 billion (7.2 trillion yen). The other leading utilities will need to pay $32 billion (3.7 trillion yen) while new electric companies will have to shoulder $2 billion (240 billion yen).
"For now, we don`t expect the costs to increase further, but new developments and unforeseen factors mean there is a chance they could go higher," said Hiroshige Seko, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry.
"Decommissioning technological innovation and a speedier cleanup could help reduce costs and it is important that we put effort into that," he added.
TEPCO has already received a government bailout to deal with the rising costs of the Fukushima disaster which has become the world`s worst nuclear calamity since Chernobyl in 1986.
On Thursday, Tokyo reportedly agreed to add an extra 5 trillion yen ($44 billion) to its original 9 trillion yen ($79 billion) loan for the struggling power company.