NUCLEAR Japan to take controlling stake of Fukushima operator

The operator of Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, TEPCO, is to be partially taken over by the government, effectively nationalizing one of the country's largest utility companies. The Japanese government announced Wednesday that it would inject 1 trillion yen ($12.5 billion, 9.5 billion euros) into the operator of the nuclear power plant devastated by last year's tsunami, placing it under temporary state control to help the company recover financially after the disaster. The plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) has been plunged into financial trouble due to payouts to thousands of victims and the cleanup of the nuclear catastrophe that took place at the Fukushima plant and the decommissioning of the plants' reactors. In return for the financial assistance from the government, TEPCO has agreed to cut costs and raise utility rates. The company continues to provide power for the Tokyo metropolitan area, despite having all of its nuclear reactors offline. Japan recently took all of its nuclear reactors offline as the country conducts extensive safety checks. TEPCO's management is also to be replaced, which Industry Minister Yukio Edano says will help restart the company. "Under the new management," he said at a press conference, "I urge that the firm builds a fresh culture, listening to voices of those who have been harmed [by the nuclear crisis], to customers, to society, and starts actively releasing information." The company's managing director, Naomi Hirose, has been nominated to replace the incumbent president. Hirose has been in charge of compensation issues related to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that triggered Japan's worse nuclear disaster. mz/ncy (AFP, AP, dpa)

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TEPCO: Radioactive substances belong to landowners, not us

During court proceedings concerning a radioactive golf course, Tokyo Electric Power Co. stunned lawyers by saying the utility was not responsible for decontamination because it no longer "owned" the radioactive substances.

“Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not TEPCO,” the utility said.

That argument did not sit well with the companies that own and operate the Sunfield Nihonmatsu Golf Club, just 45 kilometers west of the stricken TEPCO plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

The Tokyo District Court also rejected that idea.

But in a ruling described as inconsistent by lawyers, the court essentially freed TEPCO from responsibility for decontamination work, saying the cleanup efforts should be done by the central and local governments

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New Tepco head vows to be open to public opinion

(Reuters) - The president-designate of Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T), the owner of the Fukushima nuclear plant, said he would be sensitive to public sentiment when rebuilding the once-powerful utility that is set to be nationalized.

Tepco, set to be taken over by the government in a $12 billion bailout scheme awaiting the industry minister's approval, said on Tuesday managing director Naomi Hirose, who oversees compensation for the Fukushima disaster victims, was to be president.

Tepco is saddled with trillions of yen compensation and clean-up costs after last year's radiation crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Public confidence in the utility was shattered after the crisis and the firm's way of handling the disaster's aftermath was widely perceived as arrogant.

"I constantly feel that we need to be a little bit more sensitive to how the society and the customers perceive Tokyo Electric,"

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riiiight
bailout
make the peeps pay as they die

this corporate profit from public debt has got to stop

Originally posted by Danbones

TEPCO: Radioactive substances belong to landowners, not us

During court proceedings concerning a radioactive golf course, Tokyo Electric Power Co. stunned lawyers by saying the utility was not responsible for decontamination because it no longer "owned" the radioactive substances.

“Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not TEPCO,” the utility said.

That argument did not sit well with the companies that own and operate the Sunfield Nihonmatsu Golf Club, just 45 kilometers west of the stricken TEPCO plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

The Tokyo District Court also rejected that idea.

But in a ruling described as inconsistent by lawyers, the court essentially freed TEPCO from responsibility for decontamination work, saying the cleanup efforts should be done by the central and local governments

ajw.asahi.com...

Oh man I feel my head about to explode at this one! How is nuclear energy cheaper when the common laborers who make minimum wage are left to pay the bills when the nuclear monster gets out of its bag????
If Tepco in Japan, which is much much more financially responsible and on the hook for nuclear "mishaps" than the energy companies who own reactors here in the United States, what games are those in the US going to play when we have a nuclear "mishap" or two??? They are freaking greedy thug criminals re-writing the laws and life as we know it, and are getting away with it!!!!!!!!!!! Dam* it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trust Nuclear Energy, it's safe, it's regulated, itr's cheap and clean...........................until something GOES WRONG, then the cowards run the other way and have written the laws to leave the unprepared common citizens to pay for and clean up the NRC's mistakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!