Fukushima plant cleanup costs, compensation may rise by 8 tril. yen

An industry group has estimated costs for decontamination work at the disaster-struck Fukushima nuclear plant and compensation for nuclear damage to be around 8 trillion yen ($77.10 billion) more than the current official projection, a source close to the matter said Thursday.

The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan, which consists of the country's 10 electric power companies, has informally asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government to use state funds to cover the extra costs, the source also said.

The costs are supposed to be covered by the utilities, including Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant where three reactors melted down in the aftermath of the March 2011 quake-tsunami disaster.

The government is cautious about using taxpayers' money to deal with the issue, the source said.
 ==Kyodo
 6/10/16