Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), Asia’s largest utility company, has started making compensation payments to the residents who had to be evacuated from around the Fukushima nuclear plant after the disaster in March. Now, they may end up paying a lot more according to Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary. The Japanese government has decided that they will not put a limit on the amount of compensation payments that TEPCO must make to residents and the local government. Japan’s government officials could have granted the company an “exemption” from being liable for…
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Japan Catastrophe 2011: The Wake Up Call
After seeing the devastation from last month’s earthquake and tsunami in Northeast Japan, officials in Tokyo are re- evaluating their current disaster plan. The huge 9.0 quake on March 11th that occurred over 200 miles from Japans capital made them realize they weren’t prepared for the worst-case situation. Japan has been working for over 40 years to make their country safer from devastating earthquakes. Earthquake engineering is a normal part of the construction process in Japan. City leaders were confident they had prepared for worse-case scenarios; until the quake…
Read MoreThe liability name game over Fukushima nuclear disaster
General Electric (GE) is getting bad press for their part in the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan; but they’re not being sued, as of yet. GE designed the containment systems inside the nuclear reactors of the Fukushima power plant. The power plant and its nuclear reactors were damaged almost a month ago when a massive earthquake hit Japan. The quake was immediately followed by a powerful Tsunami; causing additional destruction in the region. There have been reports that the reactors leaked radiation into the air. The latest news tells us…
Read MoreRead carefully…insurance policies carry nuclear exclusions
Insurance companies are reeling from the possible cost of the disaster in Japan. It will be weeks before the entirety of the damages can be put into any kind of perspective to be tallied. It isn’t just the property damage and the economic loss; the lives that were lost will also be a factor. Another aspect of this disaster is the nuclear contamination from damaged reactors. Most traditional policies exclude coverage for nuclear accidents. There is more to assessing damage than people might realize. You have to determine what was…
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