New leadership at Tokyo Electric Power Co. and progress in the capital toward a new regulatory regime highlighted the recent news from Japan.
Developments related to the Fukushima Daiichi reactors severely damaged following last year's earthquake and tsunami include:
Outside Directors Selected for Reorganized TEPCO
As the government exercises its controlling stake in TEPCO, the heads of Japan's public television broadcaster and a Mitsubishi subsidiary have been tapped to work as outside directors at the company. Fumio Sudo is chairman of the board of governors of Japan Broadcasting Co., also known as NHK, and previously served as president of the steelmaker JFE Holdings. Yoshimitsu Kobayashi is president of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Co. While their appointments will not be complete until after a TEPCO shareholder meeting next month, the Asahi Shimbun reported both TEPCO and the government's Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund have supported their nominations. Under a restructuring plan, the government will give $12.3 billion to the struggling utility and acquire a controlling interest in the business. The plan will reorganize TEPCO in a way that gives outside directors like Sudo and Kobayashi more control over management under Japanese law.
Study: Electric Rates Could Double Without Reactors
As it begins to prepare a broader Japanese energy policy this summer, a government panel has found electric rates would rise dramatically if nuclear power is phased out in the next two decades. Prepared by various academics for the Fundamental Issues Subcommittee of the industry ministry's Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, the studies involved a range of simulations to forecast electricity rates with nuclear plants providing between zero and 35 percent of the country's power in 2030. The Asahi Shimbun reported that projections without nuclear power showed electric rates 42 percent to 104 percent higher than those in 2010 because of nuclear plants' capital recovery costs and the expenses associated with building renewable generation. Even if nuclear power remains 25 to 30 percent of the mix and renewable generation increases, the studies anticipated rate increases of between 30 percent and 62 percent over the same time period.
Politicians Closer to Deal on New Regulatory Bodies
Citing government sources, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday that three of the major Japanese political parties are close to resolving an impasse on legislation to drastically reshape the regulatory regime for nuclear plants. According to the newspaper, the ruling Democratic Party has agreed to accept a proposal from the New Komeito and Liberal Democratic parties that would allow a bill to pass in the current legislative session. It will include a proposal favored by opposition parties that would create a new agency under the Environment Ministry that would be overseen by a semi-autonomous nuclear regulatory commission. If the legislation moves forward, the comission could be established as early as June 1.