No upper limit on TEPCO’s damages costs for nuclear accident: Edano
May 2, 2011
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Monday there should be no upper limit set on the amount of compensation to be paid by Tokyo Electric Power Co. over the accident at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Edano told a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee that the plant operator, known as TEPCO, will not be immune from liability under Japanese law and there will be no cap for compensation that the utility will be required to pay for damages caused by the plant.
The law on compensation for nuclear damage says special exemptions may be applied in the event of abnormal natural calamities.
Edano, however, said the government believes TEPCO will not be given the exemption which would allow it to pay only part of the damages, as the scale of the March 11 quake was not unprecedented in the world.
The plant in Fukushima Prefecture was ravaged by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. TEPCO and the government are still struggling to bring the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster under control.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on May 2, 2011)
Edano told a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee that the plant operator, known as TEPCO, will not be immune from liability under Japanese law and there will be no cap for compensation that the utility will be required to pay for damages caused by the plant.
The law on compensation for nuclear damage says special exemptions may be applied in the event of abnormal natural calamities.
Edano, however, said the government believes TEPCO will not be given the exemption which would allow it to pay only part of the damages, as the scale of the March 11 quake was not unprecedented in the world.
The plant in Fukushima Prefecture was ravaged by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. TEPCO and the government are still struggling to bring the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster under control.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on May 2, 2011)
