Fukushima nuclear clean-up costs rise as steam seen again

Fukushima nuclear clean-up costs rise as steam seen again

 

TOKYO (AFP) - The clean-up after the Fukushima nuclear disaster could cost five times more than estimated, figures have revealed, as Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said on Wednesday that steam had been seen again in a reactor building.

 

It is the third time steam has been observed in the battered structure over the last week.

 

The government-backed National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology said decontamination work in Fukushima prefecture will cost up to 5.81 trillion yen (S$74 billion), far more than the 1 trillion yen the government has so far allocated.

 

The institute, in a report released on Tuesday, said the costs - including for transportation and storage of radiation-contaminated soil over a large area - would be in a range between 3.13 trillion yen and 5.81 trillion yen.

 

(The Straits Times, 24 July 2013)