No more nuclear tax for TEPCO

November 21, 2012

Fukushima to ax nuclear fuel tax

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121121a7.html

Kyodo

FUKUSHIMA — The Fukushima Prefectural Government will abolish a nuclear fuel tax imposed on two power plants operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., with an eye to having both decommissioned.

Gov. Yuhei Sato said Monday the prefecture seeks the decommissioning of all reactors, including the three that suffered meltdowns in March 2011 at the six-reactor Fukushima No. 1 power plant, as well as the nearby four-reactor Fukushima No. 2 plant.

The tax will be abolished Dec. 30 when the five-year renewal period ends, Sato said. Fukushima will become the first prefecture hosting nuclear plants to abolish the nuclear fuel tax.

The decision was made "in light of the calls of the prefectural government and assembly for the decommissioning of all reactors in the prefecture," Sato said.

Tepco already plans to decommission Fukushima No. 1's reactors 1 through 4.

It has yet to decide on whether to decommission reactors 5 and 6 reactors at the complex and the four units at the Fukushima No. 2 plant.

November 20, 2012

Fukushima Prefecture to abolish nuclear fuel tax

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20121120p2a00m0na003000c.html

The Fukushima Prefectural Government announced Nov. 19 that it will abolish a nuclear fuel tax imposed on Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), becoming the first prefecture to do so among the 13 in Japan that impose such taxes.

The prefectural government and the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly have sought to abolish all nuclear reactors in the prefecture following the meltdowns at TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. As the tax is imposed on the premise of restarting nuclear reactors, the prefectural government decided to abolish it.

The prefecture established an ordinance on the nuclear fuel tax in 1977, and renewed it every five years. The current ordinance, which went into effect in 2007, is set to expire on Dec. 30 this year, but the prefectural government and assembly will not take action to renew it or propose other related ordinances.

The prefectural government collected a total of around 124.68 billion yen through the regional tax, which corresponds to the price and weight of fuel rods that are added to reactors. The tax peaked at roughly 7.9 billion yen in fiscal 1987. The money was reportedly used to maintain evacuation routes in 10 municipalities -- those hosting the power plant and surrounding areas.

TEPCO paid the prefecture about 800 million yen in nuclear fuel taxes for the insertion of fuel rods into the No. 4 reactor at the Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant in February 2011, a month before the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that triggered the nuclear disaster. No nuclear fuel tax has been imposed in the prefecture since then.