TOKYO -- The Japanese government's estimate of the total cost of compensating victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and scrapping the plant's reactors will nearly double Friday to 21.5 trillion yen ($188 billion).
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will peg compensation costs at 7.9 trillion yen, up from 5.4 trillion yen. Projected decommissioning expenses will surge to 8 trillion yen from 2 trillion yen, while the cost of decontaminating affected areas is seen rising to 4 trillion yen from 2.5 trillion yen. The estimated price tag of interim storage facilities to hold tainted soil is being bumped up to 1.6 trillion yen from 1.1 trillion yen.
