Japan’s 4 big nuke firms talk potential partnership
Print Edition
Four of Japan’s biggest nuclear operators and plant builders have started talks on a potential partnership in atomic energy, as the sector struggles to reboot in the wake of the Fukushima disaster seven years ago, a source said yesterday.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc (Tepco), Hitachi Ltd, Toshiba and Chubu Electric Power Co Inc have signed an initial agreement that will be fleshed out in discussions, the source said. He declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak with media.
The Nikkei newspaper earlier reported the companies had begun talks on an alliance that would initially focus on decommissioning old reactors.
That could be extended to building and maintaining nuclear plants, with the moves likely to spur a broad realignment in Japan’s nuclear industry, the Nikkei said.
“It makes sense in the domestic arena to cooperate. Four balance sheets is better than one when it comes to nuclear risks,” said Tom O’Sullivan, the founder of energy consultancy Mathyos Japan.
When contacted by reporters, all four companies said they had regular discussions with each other as well as with other nuclear operators and builders. Hitachi denied the details included in the Nikkei report on plans for decommissioning and the building of new reactors.
Japan’s nuclear sector provided about 30 percent of the country’s electricity supply before a tsunami and earthquake caused reactor fuel meltdowns at Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi station in March 2011.
The disaster highlighted regulator and industry failings and turned swathes of the public against nuclear power, with reactors needing to be relicensed by a new regulator to meet tougher safety standards.
While nine reactors have been restarted, utilities have had to spend billions of dollars on upgrades and alternative fuel supplies to produce electricity in the world’s third-biggest economy.
That has led to calls for the government to take over nuclear operations and reorganize an industry that has 10 atomic power operators.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry supports the partnership plans, the Nikkei report said, quoting an unidentified official saying: “it is now impossible for a private company to be in the business by itself.”
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