Financial loss after Fukushima disaster estimated at $74 billion

Financial loss from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster has been estimated at $74 billion, the Japanese Nuclear Safety Commission said on Thursday. The dismantlement of four reactor tanks will cost $14.9 billion and $52 billion will be spent on compensation, clean-up of radioactive soil and other measures. The special government-backed fund set up after the disaster will finance the project. The fund is financed with money from the state budget and contributions from financial organizations and other utilities. TEPCO, the operator of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, will compensate the expenses over the next several years. The expenses of clean-up were not included in the net costs of nuclear energy does not include those possible costs for disasters at nuclear power plants. This is one reason why nuclear energy is still considered to be the cheapest (less than $1 per kilowatt hour) which is twice as cheap as energy produced by major hydroelectric projects. This oversight in budgeting will now be corrected and nuclear energy may lose its supporters and status of being one of the cheapest energy sources.