This situation in Japan is not an exception. If something were to happen at the existing nuclear plant in Cape Town, or at any of the proposed nuclear plants in future, taxpayers would be forced to cover the costs. Eskom would be liable for a very small amount, while investors and developers could walk away without paying a cent.
General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba designed, built and serviced the reactors which directly contributed to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, yet these companies have not paid one cent of the cost for the reactor failures.
The cost of the Fukushima nuclear disaster is estimated at $250 billion US dollars.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan lost their homes, jobs and communities. None of them have received enough compensation to rebuild their lives.
All of the costs from the nuclear meltdown fell on TEPCO, the operator of Fukushima, which could not afford it and was nationalised. The costs of Fukushima are being paid by the Japanese people themselves, as taxpayers they are footing the bill for this nuclear disaster.
The situation in Japan is not an exception, if you live in or near a country with nuclear reactors, it is likely that nuclear companies could walk away from an accident near you without paying any of the costs. General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba should pay for the damage caused by their reactors!
