Who is Responsible for Fukushima Daiichi
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has been running its nuclear power plants, including the Fukushima Daiichi plant while the Japanese Government strictly regulates their operation subject to related laws and regulations.
However, people are discussing how much TEPCO should take responsibility. If TEPCO could pay all the damages and compensation related to the Fukushima Daiichi accident, there are no problems. But, roughly speaking 100,000 people have been directly affected by the nuclear accident and 100,000 people engaged in various sectors of industry have been indirectly affected, requesting full compensation. If the amount of money to settle a claim by each person is 30 million yen ($370,000) on average, TEPCO needs 6 trillion yen ($73 billion).
Actually, the government officially estimates that the total compensation for Fukushima Daiichi victims will reach 4.5 trillion yen ($55 billion). Though TEPCO has 15 trillion yen of total collective assets, including 1.9 trillion yen of liquidity assets, it has also huge debts and it will have to spend huge money to abolish crippled nuclear reactors, which will require trillion yen; accordingly it asks for financial aid from the Government: 1 trillion yen of capital infusion and 850 billion yen for compensation aid. It is estimated that the government will supply about 3.5 trillion yen ($43 billion) for TEPCO eventually.
And now TEPCO is announcing an increase in power rates and the Government plans to increase the consumption tax rate. Both the measures target consumers and taxpayers as the last resources of money.
In a democratic country like Japan, it is reasonable that the people who have sovereignty and who are beneficiaries should also take responsibility together with a power company and the government when a power company fails while running its business subject to government regulations.
The point at issue is that the Japanese people did not make the Government make TEPCO fully take preventive measures against such a nuclear accident. TEPCO rather claims that the company is a victim of a catastrophic natural disaster, the combination of an M9.0 earthquake and 15-meter high tsunamis, that could occur only once in 1000 years. TEPCO justifies itself, as if saying that the Fukushima Daiichi accident is an accident force majeure. If so, it is responsibility for the people to force the Government to make TEPCO take preventive measures against a catastrophic natural disaster that could occur only once in 1000 years. If the Japanese people had elected able politicians who then had become prime minister and related ministers to order TEPCO to get well prepared for a catastrophic natural disaster that could occur only once in 1000 years, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster could have been prevented.
Ultimately, it is not only TEPCO and the Japanese Government, including politicians and bureaucrats but also the Japanese voters that are responsible. All the matters related to financial aspects should be considered in this light. But the Japanese people especially including TEPCO executives and workers, creditors of TEPCO such as big banks, and users of electricity provided by TEPCO.
As the Japanese people are clever, they will come to realize their responsibility. So, the only serious matter left is how to collect money for Fukushima Daiichi compensation from all the Japanese people, mainly including TEPCO executives and workers, creditors of TEPCO such as big banks and stockholders, and users of electricity provided by TEPCO, without damaging the Japanese economy and the Government financial status.
Put simply the Japanese people should have been more cleverer. They are responsible for their lack of ability to foresee such a natural disaster coming at any time. In other word, they were trying to do something beyond their ability while enjoying so much of electricity from nuclear power plants all over Japan.
But, this can apply to everybody in the world. For example, the Americans were trying to do something beyond their ability while enjoying their superiority and business with Islamic nations before the 9/11 Terror and while enjoying too loose credit allowance before the 2008 Financial Crisis; Europeans were also trying to do something beyond their ability while enjoying the euro system before the 2011 Greek Financial Crisis.
Anyway, mankind should stop building new nuclear reactors at least till he acquires full ability to perfectly manage their operation.
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Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.