Japan Press Weekly

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2014 May 28 - June 3 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Japan Atomic Power Company receives 124 billion yen without producing any electricity

Without generating electricity, the Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) received a total of 124.2 billion yen from five major utilities as basic fees for power supply contracts. The money came from charges for electricity paid by the general public.

The JAPC operates the Tokai Daini Nuclear Power Plant (Tokai Village, Ibaraki Prefecture) and the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant (Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture). It holds contracts to provide power generated by the three reactors in the two NPPs with the Tokyo, Kansai, Chubu, Hokuriku, and Tohoku power companies.

As all of its reactors have been offline since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, the JAPC generated no electricity in 2012 and 2013. However, the company received basic payments for the contract from the five utilities as expenses to cover the maintenance cost and the safety improvement measures needed to restart the idled reactors.

The amount of the fees in FY 2013 stands at 124.2 billion yen, down by 26.7 billion yen or 17.7%. The company expects to earn around 110 billion yen from the fixed payments.

Meanwhile the JAPC paid a total of 442 million yen in compensation to directors, including three former executives of the major utilities and six top officials of the power companies. JAPC President Hamada Yasuo was a vice president of Kansai Electric Power Company.

Four of the five utilities increased their electricity rates under the pretext that all of their reactors are suspended. If they keep paying such a vast amount of money to the JAPC, they will face fierce public criticism. The need now is to put a stop to the cozy relationships enjoyed among the “nuclear power village”.