Japan May Lower Estimated Nuclear Accident Rate

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry panel is considering lowering the estimated accident rate for nuclear power plants in its calculation of power generation costs for each energy source, informed sources said Thursday. The move is designed to reflect massive investments for safety measures that major Japanese power utilities have made to meet new safety guidelines for nuclear power plants that took effect in July 2013, the sources said. A lower estimate for the accident rate will theoretically reduce predicted costs for power generated at nuclear power plants. The government will take into account cost estimates when it discusses the future composition of energy sources for the nation's power output. But with cash reserves for accident damages and safety investments likely to be lifted sharply, it is unclear how much the estimated nuclear power generation costs will change as a result of the adjustment to the accident rate. The major Japanese utilities are expected to invest a total of some 2 trillion yen for safety measures for nuclear power plants. In the previous calculation made in December 2011, nuclear power generation costs per kilowatt-hour were estimated at 8.9 yen or more. Compensation costs were predicted to total 5.8 trillion yen or more in the event of a nuclear accident, based on the assumption that an accident will take place once every 40 years. END