Note: I post this November article now as it contains information that remains relevant and helps put together one more piece of the puzzle of why TEPCO is failing at this clean up....all alone.
As reported last week, United States Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz requested that Japan join a treaty called the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damages. This treaty collects funds from participating nations to assist with payments for damages resulting from nuclear disasters.
What most mainstream media sources failed to relate, was that the treaty also assigns accident liability to the operators of the nuclear power plant, rather than the vendors which develop the technology or construct the equipment.
To receive help, the United States essentially told Japan that they would have to incur the losses and sign a treaty which would prevent them from seeking compensation from contracted companies, like those which built and constructed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and instead must satisfy itself only with seeking repayment from the operator, Tokyo Electric – who is facing bankruptcy and relies largely upon the Japanese government for funds to prevent a financial meltdown. In the wording of the treaty, “the operator’s liability for nuclear damage shall be absolute”, and “the right to compensation for nuclear damage may be exercised only against the operator liable.”
Currently, the situation surrounding the utility reminds one of an operation to remove a leg to prevent further damage to the host body. TEPCO is facing the end of life as they know it, as being forced to cover the full brunt of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster would put the entire organization into a financial pit they would likely never find a way out of.
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