TOKYO: Ten Japanese power suppliers will be asked to pay 135.2 billion yen in fiscal 2024 to prepare for the decommissioning of nuclear reactors, an organization tasked with overseeing the process said Wednesday.
Beginning in the fiscal year that began last April, the Nuclear Reprocessing and Decommissioning Facilitation Organization will collect funds for reactor decommissioning from the companies, including Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.
Previously, the companies set aside such funds as internal reserves. The change is designed to ensure that a sufficient amount of funds is secured to decommission reactors, which is expected to take 30 to 40 years.
The industry ministry approved Wednesday the amount of funds that each company will pay in fiscal 2024.
In Japan, 18 reactors are set to be decommissioned due to aging, not including those at TEPCO’s meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Costs to decommission the country’s existing 51 reactors, including those currently in operation, are estimated at 3 trillion yen.
JIJI Press