” (Reuters) – The operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear station, Tokyo Electric Power Co, should be liquidated, as its failure to learn from its mistakes fuels insecurity, says the governor of a prefecture hosting another of the utility’s atomic plants.
Tepco was nationalized last year and receives public funds to pay compensation to the 160,000 people who had to flee their homes after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused three reactor meltdowns in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
Hirohiko Izumida, governor of Niigata prefecture north of Tokyo, has been arguing for two years that the utility should not be allowed to restart its Kashiwazaki Kariwa station, the world’s biggest nuclear plant, unless it gives a fuller account of the Fukushima meltdowns.
Izumida, himself a former energy official, is now upping the ante, saying he believes Tepco’s focus on getting the plant’s reactors started to save fuel costs of about $1 billion every month overlooks safety concerns. … ”
Japan Safety : Nuclear Energy Updates 