Japan Press Weekly

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2013 May 22 - 28 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

144 billion yen paid to maintain idled reactors from consumers’ pockets

Five electric power companies paid 144 billion yen in total for “electricity purchase” to the Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) whose three reactors generated almost no electricity in FY 2011.

Of them, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) paid 46 billion yen and Kansai Electric Power Company 34 billion yen in the fiscal year ending in March 2012.

These expenditures were added to the electricity rate ordinary consumers paid.

TEPCO and eight other power companies jointly established the JAPC, a company to operate nuclear power plants and sell electricity to the utilities. All of its three reactors have been suspended since 2011.

Regarding the matter, Secretary General of Osaka branch of the New Japan Women’s Association Sugimoto Kazu stated, “I feel angry that the money we paid to the utility was used to maintain those reactors. We will make efforts to strengthen movements to decommission all reactors in Japan and promote renewable energy instead.”

Matsumoto Hajime who has organized anti-nuclear demonstrations in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward said, “I think it’s understandable to use our money on something positive like developing new energy sources. But TEPCO is spending a huge amount of money wastefully just to keep the reactors in readiness and the utility tells us to pay for that. That makes me so mad.”