Fukushima town gives TEPCO a bill for 19 billion yen

A town mayor on March 8 handed a bill to Tokyo Electric Power Co. for 19.25 billion yen ($237 million) to cover damage caused by the company’s stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Katsutaka Idogawa, the mayor of Futaba, which hosts the nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture, gave the bill to Naomi Hirose, a TEPCO managing director, at what was formerly Kisai Senior High School in Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, where the Futaba government's functions are currently located.

"I filed the claim in the belief that the town government should take the lead in taking action to reclaim our homeland for the townspeople," Idogawa said. "I will call on TEPCO to react promptly and in good faith."

Futaba is one of eight municipal governments that constitute Futaba county, an administrative district that covers areas around the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

The bill said 90 percent of the town’s land and 100 percent of its buildings have been rendered unusable and worthless because of the accident. The ratio was set at 90 percent for the land because compensation for the total value would lead to a transfer of its ownership, town officials said.

The bill includes a 4.56 billion-yen charge for 2.28 square kilometers of town-owned land and 14.68 billion yen for 51 town-owned buildings, including the town hall.

The Futaba town government plans to demand further compensation for costs related to the evacuation of residents following the nuclear disaster and for tax revenue lost because companies have either gone out of business or have relocated out of the town.

An interim guideline of the central government's Dispute Reconciliation Committee for Nuclear Damage Compensation said damage to the properties of local governments is eligible for compensation. The Fukushima city government and other local governments outside Fukushima Prefecture have already filed for compensation.