The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #136314   Message #3140486
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
22-Apr-11 - 02:33 PM
Thread Name: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
"...Engineers who built..."- these were Hitachi and Toshiba engineers, not Tepco. They built Fukushima and and turned it over to Tepco, the operator. The design was American. This does not seem to be fully understood.

It will take some time to care for the 120,000 displaced (figures vary somewhat, but this one is being carried by the BBC).

The Japanese Cabinet has adopted a 4 trillion yen draft extra budget to fund initial reconstruction work for the devasted areas.
Temporary housing, repair to roads and ports, restoration of farmland, and clearance of rubble are some of the tasks.

Insurance-
Governments run the world's 443 nuclear power plants without or with little insurance coverage because it is too expensive. Tepco, for example, had no disaster insurance, leaving compensation up to the taxpayer, but this is the rule throughout the world.
In the U. S. a meltdown at the Indian Point plant could cost $416 billion, but that would not take into account the impact on New York City.
Japan Times, Saturday, April 23.