Japan Press Weekly

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2015 March 4 - 10 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP efforts pressure TEPCO to continue compensating affected businesses for Fukushima nuclear damage

The central government and Tokyo Electric Power Company recently decided to withdraw a plan to end compensation for business damages caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Akahata found on March 3.

This outcome was achieved through efforts made by the Japanese Communist Party and nuclear disaster-affected local business operators.

The industry ministry and the Fukushima nuclear power plant operator, TEPCO, in December last year announced that they will terminate compensation for the nuclear accident damages. In their plan, the payment of compensation to those who used to operate business in areas designated by the government as evacuation zones were to be stopped by the end of February 2016. The payment to business operators outside the evacuation zones was to be discontinued by the end of February 2015 if TEPCO finds no relation between business damages and the nuclear disaster.

The Fukushima Chamber of Commerce and Industry on January 21 submitted to the state and TEPCO a written statement criticizing the plan as premature, demanding the cancellation of the plan.

Supporting opposition from the prefectural business organization and local business operators, Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kurabayashi Akiko on February 9 at a House Audit Committee meeting urged the government to continue the payment of compensation.