Japan Press Weekly

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2012 May 9 - 15 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Gov’t approves restart of TEPCO’s offline nuclear reactors

Industry Minister Edano Yukio on May 9 approved a comprehensive business plan submitted by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which includes reactivation of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power reactors in Niigata Prefecture starting in April 2013.

In its business plan, TEPCO also proposes an increase of 10.28% in electricity rates for households in July.

After a TEPCO shareholders meeting scheduled for June, the government will inject 1 trillion yen into the electric company. TEPCO in total will receive 3.4 trillion yen in public funds in order to compensate victims of the Fukushima nuclear accident and increase its working capital.

The utility marked a loss of 708 billion yen in the 2012 business year ending in March. However, it expects that higher electricity rates, the restart of nuclear reactors, and cost cuts will bring about 106.7 billion yen in surplus by the end of the 2014 business year.

In response to the injection of the public funds as well as the government approval of raising electric charges and reopening nuclear reactors, Sumitomo Mitsui Bank and other mega banks will additionally provide 1 trillion yen to TEPCO.