nuclear-news

Fukushima Watch: Some Power Companies in Black without Nuclear Restarts WSJ, By Mari Iwata, 12 Nov 13  Many of Japan’s power companies generated a profit in the first half of the year. While that’s good news for shareholders, it’s an awkward outcome for utilities that have insisted they cannot stay out of the red without restarting their nuclear reactors.  The latest earnings show that many of Japan’s major utilities generated a profit in the first half of this fiscal year, even without the help of their nuclear power plants.

Amid uncertainty about whether nuclear restarts can win regulatory approval, that is good news for shareholders. But it puts the utilities themselves in a difficult position, since they have been loudly complaining that without their nuclear plants, they will remain in the red.

Five of the nine regional utilities that have nuclear power plants posted a net profit for the six months ending Sept. 30. They include Tokyo Electric Power Co., whose Fukushima Daiichi plant in northern Japan was at the center of the nuclear crisis that led to the shutdown of nuclear plants amid safety concerns. Also making profits were Tohoku Electric Power Co.,Hokuriku Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co. and Chugoku Electric Power Co…….

epco was the biggest gainer, with a ¥616 billion ($6.19 billion) net profitfor the six months. That compared with a ¥299 billion net loss a year earlier and a ¥627 billion net loss in the same period the previous year as the company struggles to pay for the cleanup and decommissioning of the Fukushima plant…..

“Tepco’s profit is false, coming from the government’s handouts,” said Akiko Sekine of Greenpeace Japan.

But she said that for other utilities, the figures showed there may be life after nuclear power.

“They have said they wouldn’t be able to get by without restarting reactors, but it seems they can,” she said…… http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-379528/