FILE -- In this Wednesday, March 16, 2011 file photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Kyodo News, smoke billows from wrecked Unit 4 at Japan's crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture. The Japanese government gave the green light Friday to a plan to provide about 900 billion yen ($11.5 billion) to Tokyo Electric Power Co. to pay massive compensation related to the nuclear crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi power plant. (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Kyodo News/FILE) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE
FILE -- In this Wednesday, March 16, 2011 file photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Kyodo News, smoke billows from wrecked Unit 4 at Japan's crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture. The Japanese government gave the green light Friday to a plan to provide about 900 billion yen ($11.5 billion) to Tokyo Electric Power Co. to pay massive compensation related to the nuclear crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi power plant. (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Kyodo News/FILE) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE
FILE -- A March 12, 2011 file photo shows a man beiing screened for radiation from the samaaged Fukushina nuclear facitilites at an evacuee center in Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Japan Friday Nov. 4, 2011, has approved a plan to provide 900 billion yen ($11.5 billion) in public funds to Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of a tsunami-hit nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Wally Santana/file)
Aileen Mioko Smith, center, executive director of pro-sustainable energy NGO group Green Action, and supporters shout anti-nuclear slogans by a yarn ball made by women in Fukushima as they stage a sit-in demonstration, opposing the government's nuclear energy policy in front of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry in Tokyo Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
TOKYO (AP) ? Japan's government Friday approved spending $11.5 billion of public money to help the operator of the tsunami-hit nuclear power plant decontaminiate the site and dismantle the reactors.
Japan's nuclear minister, Goshi Hosono, says the aid is meant as a preliminary installment to help cash-strapped Tokyo Electric Power Co. cover the massive cost of the work.
The 900 billion yen comes from the fund made up of all Japanese nuclear plant operators and the government.
The approval came after TEPCO and a state-backed fund submitted a business restructuring plan for TEPCO to cut more than 2.5 trillion yen ($32 billion) in costs over the next 10 years and reduce more than 7,000 employees.
Hosono said a more comprehensive final report is planned in March.
TEPCO has been bitterly criticized for its lack of transparency and slow response to the crisis. The application process for residents and business owners to seek compensation has also been called extremely cumbersome.
TEPCO faces billions of dollars in compensation claims from people and businesses affected by the nuclear crisis.
The controversial fund is designed to help the operator meet its responsibilities without going bankrupt. The government is contributing with zero-interest bonds that must at some point be paid back.
The March 11 earthquake and tsunami cut power at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, causing meltdowns at its reactors and forcing nearby residents to evacuate due to radiation leaks.
Associated Pressnazca lines ncaa football boston marathon elisabeth hasselbeck rogue trader rogue trader gone in 60 seconds
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.