Fukushima clean-up costs expected to swell to Y5.81 tril

And just how much of our tax money is being siphoned off to illegitimate sources?

But, nuclear power is so cheap, right? Let's get all the reactors going and build more, shall we? Fools!

But, nuclear power is so cheap, right

Find a better source. I guarantee you'll be seen as Massiah of humanity after your invention.

Though it won't happen...

The clean up has become a great boon to the Japanese kickback industry.

The black hole of nuclear power..... Better source? What about geothermal. Japan is rich with natural hots springs and volcanoes. I don't know seems like an alternative that is more continuous than wind or solar. Seems like Japan is a country of no imagination except for the Otaku community.

I believe it should read "... could cost taxpayers five times more than ..." Now that the elections are done I wonder how much more bad news will be coming out. Or just bad timing?

Whatever the cost get it fixed before something bad happens.

Shankun - I don't need to find a better source. Look at Iceland. 99% geothermal. Japan is just too stubborn to invest in geothermal cos of all the billions of yen invested in nuclear power and because of all the bureaucratic cronies get kickbacks from it.

Your troubles have barely started...

And who's pockets you think this money coming from?

Send all the execs there to work on their days off, compulsory or they get no bonuses

They are already very excited about this money that the VERY SAME (TEPCO and subsidiaries), are going to pocket out of your hard work salary payroll.

Makes you wonder how much, no IF there is, more information TEPCO is withholding. If they weren't so incompetent I'd say heaps, but most of the time they have no idea what's going on anyway.

Send all the execs there to work on their days off, compulsory or they get no bonuses

The actual president of TEPCO decided 2 weeks ago the opposite, they will all receive 100,000 yen extra bonus money as incentive to stay in the company. The actual TEPCO president is very generous to his executives with our tax money.

The truth is: there is no better source and solution for Japan, at least for the next 30-50 years. Whoever tells you differently should put down the bong and start smelling the coffee...

I always crack up when I hear proposals about:

geothermal energy - less than 0.5% of necessary is currently provided, requires massive environmental destruction in order to raise this tenfold.

Solar energy is good, as long as hamsters turn the wheels at night, and during bad weather. It's true that with the cleanup costs we could cover every building in Japan in solar panels easily though...

Wave and tidal wave energy - would mean using the Japan's sea coast for more than 50% of the surface. Wind energy is so unstable that we need to install at least 4 times the required amount in order to provide the baseload, then we can't deal with the surpluses, unless we destroy the environment again by creating accumulating lakes. Should I continue??

Ah, yes, manager bonuses. There is your increased electricity tariff at work. TEPCO has you by the short and curlies. Nobody can live without electricity, so there is no action that can be taken against them. They get bonuses, we get increased electricity costs and meanwhile, the SNAFU continues in Fukushima. Isn't that just fantastic?

Shankun, the answers are already out there and well known. No Messiah needed. Action and massive changes have to happen and if not, well, no Messiah will save us, either.

Good the government is saving every yen too and not wasting billions on things like Olympic Stadiums... Oh, never mind. Just dig deeper into that dark debt hole.

Cynical, I know, but this is probably the only reason behind the recent admissions of steam and sea pollution - to butter people up to be more understanding about paying out.

They get bonuses for understanding their regrettable actions now and into the future, tax payers should not be concerned as the Government can print more money. And the organised crime syndicates can recruit the labour as a hapless. TEPCO are unable to, yes they deserve a bonus?

They don't have a clue

TEPCO Fukushima and Abe's plan to re-start all the other nuclear generators is going to kill everyone. The Japanese, being a great fresh fish-eating country is being gradually poisoned by the continuous discharge of radioactive waters into the Sea of Japan and its surroundings. The Abe government on the other hand is at a loss as to what to do except continue allowing TEPCO to make announcements. Too much truth has been hidden from the Japanese public in the past and is now starting to be unveiled but how much more untruths is being spun is anybody's guess. Yen devaluation, sales tax, increased cost of living, radioactive poisoning, higher fuel costs, increased and unnecessary military spending resulting from Abe's militaristic stance all spell disaster for Japan. Japan lost 30 to 40 years without any sight of regaining its economic clout but now is being pushed even further into the depths of likely stagflation; one characterised by high unemployment, low demand and high prices.

I bet my bank account that this won't be the last time they up the clean up costs. Not even close.

They learned all this in the UK decommissioning smaller NPPs that had not gone through catastrophic meltdowns, and had been shutdown in a regular fashion. Costs were 7-10 times more than the early estimates, and time periods were 3-4 times longer than estimated, approaching 70 years in the latest cases. These plants did not have massive radiation leakages in reactor buildings, issues with cooling of fuel rods, damaged infrastructures and no-go areas outside of the buildings. By the time TEPCO or its successor have developed new technologies and figured how to get into the reactor buildings for longer than 20 seconds without being killed, the costs will be even higher.

A cleanup the way the Japanese mean, is impossible. They must plan a cleanup similar to Chernobil model. They must realize the bitter truth that they will not be ble to remove the nuclear fuel leaking to underground, and the areas near the reactor will be inhabitable. Until they realize this, they will spend as much money as possible for the corrupt systems which are using this opportunity to do errands with no actual outcome. The problem is that Japan cannot accept the simple truth that they made a mess just like in Chernobil.

When are these morons going to figure out that the BEST plan is to simply just move people to other areas in Japan, plan new towns AWAY from the nukes in Fukushima.

All this BS about de-contaminating forests.........WTF!

This has gone on too long now, reality has to start kicking in the is no way the country can afford all this non-sense!

The problem is not that solar, wind, geothermal, wave and tidal power could not take up the loss of energy by getting rid of nuclear power in Japan, the problem is the Japanese people do not have the willpower to do so. Most unfortunately, it will probably take another bad accident to convince them to seriously get working on the alternatives to nuclear power,

Even if they spend that amount of money, Fukushima will never return to the state before the accident.

Ok, I stand corrected. Iceland is not 99% geothermal, but it is 99% alternative energy. Japan has the resources to do the same. Geothermal and hydroelectric.

What do you expect there are 10 guys standing around a hole!

Ya just got to love this crap.. They talk as if it can actually be cleaned up… lol. Hahahaha whooot whooot.

We hope the study will be helpful in drafting plans for decontamination of forests and farmland, as well as plans for residents to return to their homes,the institute said.

The study calculated costs for several decontamination models, including one under which surface soil on farmland is removed and stored elsewhere, and another that would only see that soil turned over.

This is the problem, trying to decontaminate a place that will forever be contaminated. Lets just be realistic and deal with stopping the plant from leaking, but give up on trying to decontaminate the surrounding area

Japan - run by bureaucratic cronies!

plenty of 'yoroshiku onegaishimasu' handshakes for this one - if you know what i mean!

Louis Tan: Line 3. Pretty sure you mean the Pacific Ocean...

ebisen: How about a combination of all of those you mentioned?

Do the math, and you'll recognize that 30 to 50 years are still needed to reach a relevant level. Nevermind the money and resources to be spent, and never mind the MASSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL impact those changes will have.

The disaster has just become another way to make money. Some people should be sitting in a jail cell and lets see how they enjoy their money then!

That this shaky, tsunami prone country has not converted to thorium just goes to show how adrift it is.

ebisen;

I think experimental fusion power can replace current nuclear energy plants in the near future. Fusion power is a safe and rmuch more reliable energy source. Japan can invest in this technology and may lead the world. As far as I know there is ongoing research in France on this field.

I agree that nuclear power is still indispensable for Japan and there is no serious alternative as powerful as it

QUESTIONS:

!) Where did ALL the donations go ?

2) Why is there still radioactive water leaking from the plant into the ocean ?

3) Why doesn't Japan seek help from other countries ?

1) Shoganai 2) Shikata ga nai 3) Nihonjinron

Or something like that.