Cost estimate doubled for nuclear plant cleanup

The cost estimate to clean up Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has doubled to nearly $190 billion, with decommissioning costs expected to continue to rise, according to a government panel on Friday.

The estimate raises the decommissioning part of the total costs to $70 billion from the current $17.5 billion because of surging labor and construction costs. Panel officials said the numbers could still grow as experts learn more about the damage to the plant’s reactors and determine fuel removal methods.

The 10-member panel was commissioned by the Trade and Industry Ministry.

Costs for compensation, decontamination of the area and waste storage have also grown significantly.

The plant suffered multiple meltdowns following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Officials said its decommissioning will take several decades.

Rising cost estimates mean an increased burden on consumers.

Kunio Ito, Hitotsubashi University professor of commerce who heads the panel, said it would be inevitable for the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co or TEPCO, to pass on to customers part of the costs.

The panel has been discussing ways to keep TEPCO alive so that it can cover the cost that it’s responsible for. TEPCO has already received a government bailout, and the panel urged Fukushima cleanup-related operations to effectively stay under state control until the next review in 2019.

TEPCO President Naomi Hirose, who was summoned to parliament Friday, pledged to live up to expectations.