August 18, 2015
https://archive.is/mCLNp
>TOKYO (Kyodo) – Nine Japanese utilities had to spend a total of about 1.4 trillion yen ($11.3 billion) last fiscal year to maintain their idled nuclear power plants, financial statements showed Monday, revealing costs that led to higher electricity charges in the country.
>One of them restarted a reactor last week despite strong public opposition, adding to the view the utilities are trying to reactivate their idled plants as soon as possible to help rehabilitate their balance sheets, also damaged by rising fuel costs for alternative power generation.
>All of the country's commercial reactors remained offline in fiscal 2014, which ended March 31, amid heightened safety concerns following the 2011 nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi complex.
>Tokyo Electric spent the most (548.6 billion yen) due mainly to the Fukushima Daini nuclear complex – located about 10 kilometers south of the Fukushima Daiichi – as well as the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant it hopes to reactivate.
>Kansai Electric Power Co., which relied heavily on nuclear power in its business before the Fukushima disaster, spent 298.8 billion yen, while Kyushu Electric Power Co. spent 136.3 billion yen.
>Last week, a reactor owned by Kyushu Electric became the first to come back online under upgraded regulations introduced after the Fukushima meltdowns.
>Five of the nine companies – Tohoku Electric Power Co., Tokyo Electric, Chubu Electric Power Co., Hokuriku Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric – also had to pay some 130 billion yen to Japan Atomic Power Co., even though their reactors remained idled.
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150818p2g00m0bu011000c.html