Japan’s Tepco Seeks $9 Billion More In Aid

Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, has requested for an additional 689.4 billion yen ($8.8 billion) in aid from the Japanese government to help the utility cover compensation payments to those affected by the twin Fukushima nuclear disasters.

The Nikkei news daily reported today that Japanese trade and industry minister Yukio Edano will urge the troubled company to accept a public fund injection and a de-facto nationalisation.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, has requested for an additional 689.4 billion yen ($8.8 billion) in aid from the Japanese government to help the utility cover compensation payments to those affected by the twin Fukushima nuclear disasters.

The Nikkei news daily reported today that Japanese trade and industry minister Yukio Edano will urge the troubled company to accept a public fund injection and a de-facto nationalisation.

Following the nuclear disaster, Tepco is saddled with huge compensation claims and cleanup costs, putting the company’s independence in doubt.

Reuters reported that the Japanese government may inject as much as $13 billion into Tepco as early as next summer in a de-facto nationalisation.

[quote] A government-backed bailout body had already agreed in November to provide a separate 890 billion yen ($11.4 billion) to help the ailing company cope with its trillions of yen of compensation and cleanup costs. [/quote]

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In October, a government panel said that Tepco may have to pay 4.5 trillion yen in compensations alone by 2012, almost three times as much as the utility’s estimate.

Decommissioning the reactors damaged in the March earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi station may cost 1.15 trillion yen, according to the government.

“We made our estimate based on factors we can foresee at the moment,” Tepco spokesman Hiroki Kawamata said today, when asked about the difference in assessments. “It’s possible our actual compensation payments will be different from what we predict.”

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