Weekend Economists Waiting for Godot March 7-9, 2014

[xchrom]

38. JAPAN SEES FUTURE BUSINESS IN FUKUSHIMA CLEANUP

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_NUCLEAR_DECOMMISSIONING_INC?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-03-08-02-28-39

TOKYO (AP) -- There is something surprising in the radioactive wreck that is the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant: opportunity. To clean it up, Japan will have to develop technology and expertise that any nation with a nuclear reactor will one day need.

Eyeing dozens of aging reactors at home and hundreds of others worldwide that eventually need to be retired, Japanese industry sees a profitable market for decommissioning expertise.

It may sound surprising, given all the ongoing problems with the coastal Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, including massive leaks of contaminated water and other mishaps that followed its devastation by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

But many experts and industry officials say the experience and technology such as robotics being developed can be used in any decommissioning in the future. That could represent new opportunities for Japan Inc., which has lost some of its global clout to competitors from countries such as South Korea, China and the U.S.