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☆ Japan nuclear disaster: Fukushima's fishing industry fears Tokyo's next move may finish it off
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Emiko Jozuka Krystina Shveda Junko Ogura Marc Stewart Daniel Campisi | Emiko Jozuka | Krystina Shveda | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Ocean currents have since dispersed the contaminated water enough that radioactive Cesium is nearly undetectable in fish from Fukushima prefecture. A year before the 2011 disaster, government data shows Fukushima’s coastal fishing industry landed catches worth around $69 million. At the same time, ground and rainwater have leaked in, creating more radioactive wastewater that now needs to be stored and treated. This isotope is radioactive tritium, and the scientific community is divided on the risk its dissemination carries. He argues TEPCO should build more storage tanks to allow for the decay of the radioactive tritium, which has a half-life of 12.3 years.

Treasury yields dropped on the back of the report. More specifically, we looked at the rolling 100-day correlation between Nasdaq-100 stocks and the SHY ETF. Here are the five-most correlated Nasdaq-100 stocks to falling rates. Here are the five-most correlated Nasdaq-100 stocks to falling rates. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Shares of Seagan are one of the more closely correlated stocks of the iShares short-term bond yield ETF.

☆ The long-running crisis at Japan's Toshiba
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Makiko Yamazaki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Faced with more than $6 billion in liabilities linked to Westinghouse, Toshiba decides to put prized chip unit Toshiba Memory up for sale. Nov. 2021 - Toshiba says it will split into three companies, one for energy, one for infrastructure and the third to manage its Kioxia stake. Feb. 2022 - Toshiba announces a new plan to split into two, spinning off only its devices unit. April 2022 - Toshiba sets up a special committee to resume a strategic review that could see it taken private. Under pressure from shareholders, Toshiba announces a special dividend of some $545 million.

MCCAMEY, Texas, March 23 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency bankruptcies and worries over electric power consumption have failed to dent the industry's growth in Texas, according to a top trade group, citing the rise in the miners' power demands. Bitcoin miners consume about 2,100 megawatts of the state's power supplies, said Lee Bratcher, president of industry group Texas Blockchain Council. "There's been some challenges with the Bitcoin mining industry," Bratcher said, noting his group recently saw two prominent bankruptcies and other miners scaling back expansions. "Bitcoin mining is a very energy intensive business, which is why we tend to find places like West Texas to be full of Bitcoin miners," said Matt Prusak, chief commercial officer at cryptocurrency miner U.S. Bitcoin Corp, which has one of its mining operations in a 280-megawatt wind farm in Texas. In Texas, where about 250 people died during a winter storm blackout that exposed the fragility of the state's grid, the prospect of higher crypto demand has raised alarms.

☆ Fukushima water release stokes fresh fears for fisherman
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Fisherman Haruo Ono, 71, untangles nets after returning from work at sea for the night, at Tsurishihama fishing port in Shinchimachi, about 55 km away from the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 1, 2023. "It's been 12 years and fish prices are rising, we're finally hoping to really get down to business," Haruo said. "Now they're talking about releasing the water and we're going to have to go back to square one again. It's unbearable." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonClose

☆ Rice into low-carbon plastic: bringing hope to a struggling Fukushima town
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Elaine Lies | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Last November, Tokyo-based firm Biomass Resin opened a factory in Namie to turn locally-grown rice into pellets. "Even now, we can't sell it as Fukushima rice. The same wave slammed into the nuclear plant, setting off meltdowns and explosions. "Namie was hit by four disasters - the quake, the tsunami, the reactor accident and then rumours about radiation danger," said Takemitsu Imazu, president of Biomass Resin Fukushima. The plastic isn't biodegradable, Imazu said, but using rice cuts the petroleum products involved - and growing more rice in Namie reduces overall atmospheric CO2.

Under the plan, South Korea would compensate former forced labourers through an existing public foundation funded by private-sector companies, South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin told a briefing. SOUTH KOREAN FUNDSRelations plunged to their lowest point in decades after South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Japanese firms to pay reparations to former forced labourers. Overall there are fewer than 1,300 living victims of forced labour in South Korea, according to media estimates. The South Korean companies include KT&G (033780.KS), Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) (015760.KS) and other companies that benefited from a 1965 treaty between South Korea and Japan. Asked whether Japanese companies would pitch in to compensate, Park said both Japanese and South Korean businesses were considering a plan to contribute.

☆ Why a U.S. national electric grid would be great for the climate — and is nearly impossible
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

But the energy grid in the U.S. has developed over decades as a patchwork of thousands of individual utilities serving their own local regions. The Department of Energy is in the process of conducting a National Transmission Planning Study,to look into all of this. "Many mid-U.S. states have excellent wind resources, and the southwest U.S. has excellent solar resources, but the population is insufficient to use them," McCalley told CNBC. Finally, improved energy sharing would also lead to a more reliable energy grid for consumers. At the kickoff for its next round of transmission planning, MISO had a three hour planning meeting with 377 people in the meeting.

☆ Japan's JERA raises FY22/23 earnings estimate on lower LNG procurement cost
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Yuka Obayashi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Higher-than-expected profit from its trading unit, JERAGM, and stronger contribution from reselling some of the super-chilled fuel by JERA, one of the world's biggest LNG buyers, when its demand was lower, also boosted its earnings, Yoshida said. The revised guideline is based on an assumption that JERA will not receive the fuel from Freeport LNG, the second-biggest U.S. LNG exporter, by the end of March, according to Yoshida. The LNG company's plant shut after a pipeline explosion on June 8, 2022 and the restart has been delayed. In November, JERA President Satoshi Onoda predicted Freeport would resume a partial operation in mid-December and its shipments to be fully back by March. Despite the delay of Freeport's restart, JERA stuck to its 110 billion loss estimate from the fire, saying lower spot LNG prices are helping to offset an impact from the delay, Yoshida said.

☆ Utility company executives acquitted of negligence in Fukushima nuclear disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power plant after a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 14, 2011 in Futaba, Japan. DigitalGlobe | Getty ImagesA Japanese court on Wednesday found three former utility company executives not guilty of negligence over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster and the subsequent deaths of more than 40 elderly residents during their forced evacuation. watch nowThe acquittal disappointed and angered dozens of Fukushima residents and their supporters who attended the ruling or rallied outside the court. It's so irresponsible," said Yuichi Kaido, a lawyer representing the Fukushima residents. The Supreme Court in June, however, said the disaster was unforeseeable and dismissed compensation demands by thousands of residents.

☆ Tokyo court upholds not guilty verdict for ex-Tepco execs over Fukushima disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Wrongful judgment" after the The Tokyo High Court upheld a not guilty verdict for former Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) executives of negligence over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power station disaster, in front of the court in Tokyo, Japan, January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Issei KatoTOKYO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld a not guilty criminal verdict by a lower court that cleared former Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) (9501.T) executives of negligence over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power station disaster. The ruling on Wednesday to uphold the not guilty verdict sits at odds with a separate civil case brought to the Tokyo court by Tepco shareholders, which found four former executives responsible for the 2011 nuclear disaster. Judges ordered the former executives to pay 13 trillion yen ($99.14 billion) in damages in the civil lawsuit. The court judged that the executives could have prevented the disaster if they had exercised due care.

☆ Japan's Mitsui OSK, Kansai Electric sign MoU on carbon capture and storage
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SINGAPORE, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL) (9104.T) and Kansai Electric Power Co (KEPCO) (9503.T) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to study the development of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) value chain. The value chain includes the separation, capture, transportation, injection and storage of carbon dioxide emitted from KEPCO's thermal power plants, said MOL in a statement on Wednesday. Both MOL and KEPCO will also look at developing marine transportation of liquefied carbon dioxide to potential storage sites, the statement added. Industries worldwide are exploring carbon capture and storage solutions to try to reduce emissions and meet environmental targets. Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pilot's 911 call reveals moments after small plane crashed into Maryland power tower
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

It’s one of the electrical towers," the pilot told dispatchers in a 911 call made public by the Montgomery County Police, according to NBC Washington. “Totally a visibility issue," he said, according to NBC Washington. "That was the ultimate goal, and I hope you guys are doing good," Manion said in a message addressed to the pilot and passenger. The Mooney M20J single-engine plane was initially reported down about 4 miles northwest of Montgomery County Airpark at about 5:40 p.m. Sunday, according to troopers and the Federal Aviation Administration. Both were rushed to trauma care following their rescue, Montgomery County Fire Department officials previously said at a news conference.

A small airplane with two people on board was dangling an estimated 100 feet above ground Sunday night after the aircraft struck a tower supporting high-voltage power lines. The two were not injured and were communicating with first responders as they awaited rescue, Maryland State Police said in a statement. A small plane with two people aboard sits lodged in a power line pole Sunday evening in Montgomery County, Maryland. "Arriving troopers found the plane suspended in the air, entangled in a power line tower," state police said in the statement. What caused the small plane to go down was under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

TOKYO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Fair Trade Commission has issued no notice of antitrust fines to Kyushu Electric Power Co (9508.T) and Chugoku Electric Power Co (9502.T), the two utilities said on Monday, following a report they were in trouble for anti-competitive behaviour. The regulator would penalise Kyushu Electric, Chugoku Electric and Chubu Electric Power Co (9504.T) for agreeing not to expand into each other's industrial power-supply markets, the Nikkei said. Nikkei said Kansai Electric Power Co (9503.T) had also been part of the scheme and, along with the three other firms, had been raided by the commission last year. Kansai Electric had probably avoided penalty by reporting the matter to the antitrust regulator and taking advantage of a leniency policy, the newspaper said. A Kansai Electric spokesperson said on Monday the company was fully cooperating with the regulator, which so far had not called it to appear before an investigation hearing on the matter.

☆ Kyushu Electric says it will cooperate with Fair Trade Commission probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Kyushu Electric Power Co (9508.T) said on Monday that it has not received any notification of antitrust fines from the Fair Trade Commission and would fully cooperate with the regulator's investigation. Kyushu Electric Power said it is under the investigation and it will announce information swiftly if necessary. The Fair Trade Commission declined to comment on a report Friday in The Nikkei the commission has decided to fine three major utility firms including Kyushu Electric Power tens of billions of yen in total for breaching antitrust laws. The newspaper reported that the regulator will penalise Kyushu Electric Power, Chugoku Electric Power Co (9502.T) and Chubu Electric Power Co (9504.T) for agreeing not to expand in each other's industrial power supply markets. Reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SEOUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - South Korean and Saudi Arabian leaders pledged stronger ties on Thursday in the fields of energy, defence industry and building projects, as the oil-rich kingdom signed investment agreements worth $30 billion with South Korean companies. "In particular, he said he would like to drastically strengthen cooperation with South Korea in the areas of defence industry, infrastructure and construction," Yoon's office said. Saudi-based Asharq TV quoted the kingdom's investment minister as saying deals signed on Thursday were worth $30 billion. "The (South Korean) government will actively support the successful implementation of cooperative projects which apply Korea's state-of-the-art architecture ... in NEOM," said South Korea's trade minister, Lee Chang-yang. Shares in Lotte Fine Chemical (004000.KS), which signed an agreement for chemical industry cooperation with the Saudi Ministry of Investment, rose 2.1%.

☆ Japanese chipmaker Rohm considering joining JIP for Toshiba buyout
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Hadeel Al Sayegh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Japanese chipmaker Rohm Co Ltd (6963.T) said on Wednesday it was considering joining a consortium led by private equity fund Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) to buy out Toshiba Corp (6502.T), as JIP works to consolidate its proposal. The Nikkei newspaper reported that Kyoto-based Rohm planned to invest up to about 300 billion yen ($2.14 billion) in the proposed 2.2 trillion yen acquisition of Toshiba, citing multiple sources it did not name. A Rohm spokesperson confirmed that the company was considering joining the JIP consortium for the buyout but added that nothing had been decided, including the amount of any investment. Rohm and Toshiba are both major manufacturers of power management chips, which efficiently control electric power in cars, electronic devices and industrial equipment. JIP has contacted several Japanese companies to join the bid for Toshiba, including utility Chubu Electric Power Co Inc (9502.T) and financial services group Orix Corp (8591.T), sources familiar with the matter have said.

☆ Indonesia, ADB launch first coal power plant retirement deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A man stands on an escalator ahead of the G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, November 13, 2022. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaNUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the Asian Development Bank and a private power firm are teaming up to refinance and prematurely retire a coal-fired power plant, the first such project under a groundbreaking carbon emissions reduction programme, they announced on Monday. The Manila-based multilateral lender and Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced the MOU with independent power producer Cirebon Electric Power in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit. ADB also said a number financial firms and philanthropic groups have expressed interest in participating in the transaction. The ADB officials said they expect the Cirebon deal to give private investors more confidence to explore future participation, and that the development finance institution's leadership may help shield them from any negative public perceptions regarding new investments in coal financing.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Indonesia, ADB launch first coal power plant retirement deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A man stands on an escalator ahead of the G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, November 13, 2022. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaNUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Indonesia, the Asian Development Bank and a private power firm are teaming up to refinance and retire early the first coal-fired power plant under a groundbreaking new carbon emissions reduction project that moves from concept to reality on Monday. The Manila-based lender and Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati are set to announce the MOU with independent power producer Cirebon Electric Power on Monday in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit. "With this announcement, we're taking the first steps in what was an ambitious project and making it real," he added. ADB also said a number financial firms and philanthropic groups have expressed interest in participating in the transaction.

JIP, Chubu Electric and Orix will each invest 100 billion yen, the paper said, without saying where it got the information. A Toshiba representative declined to comment, saying the company could not "answer information about candidates, including co-investors, as it may undermine fair process". Investor focus could now turn to another potential bidder, state-backed fund JIC, which sources have said is also preparing a bid. The fund has been in talks with U.S. private equity fund Bain Capital and north Asia fund MBK Partners to form a separate consortium, sources have said. Differences over JIP's plan to retain Toshiba's management were a source of friction between the two, Reuters has reported.

☆ Japanese consortium submits 2.2 trln yen Toshiba bid, Nikkei reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Nov 7 (Reuters) - A consortium of more than 10 Japanese companies, led by the Japan Industrial Partners investment fund, has submitted a bid to buy Toshiba Corp (6502.T) for about 2.2 trillion yen ($15.01 billion), the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday. The consortium, including Chubu Electric Power Co Inc (9502.T) and Orix Corp (8591.T), appears not to have obtained commitment letters from banks but is aiming to complete the lending deal by end-November if Toshiba accepts the bid to go private, Nikkei said. Japanese companies in the consortium will spend about 1 trillion yen, while multiple overseas funds decided not to join the bid due to expectations for low returns, the newspaper added. When asked for a comment on the report, a Toshiba representative said the company "cannot answer information about candidates, including co-investors, as it may undermine fair process". ($1 = 146.5400 yen)Reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by David Goodman and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Differences over JIP's plan to retain Toshiba CEO Taro Shimada and his team were a source of friction between the two bidders, according to two sources familiar with the talks. Despite being selected as preferred bidder, JIP has struggled to secure enough equity commitments from potential partners, sources have said. It now looks set to miss a Monday deadline to deliver a firm proposal that includes letters of commitment from banks, sources have said. In late October, JIC expanded the size of its buyout fund to 900 billion yen ($6.11 billion) from 200 billion yen. Two of the sources said the expansion was not just for a Toshiba buyout but also aimed at other deals.

☆ Asia's energy supply looks secure — even as Europe scrambles
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

On Tuesday, the EU steered away from a proposed price cap on Russian gas as it laid out new measures to tackle high energy prices. Overall LNG imports fell 7% year-on-year. Overall LNG imports fell 7% year-on-year. The decrease in LNG imports for Japan, Pakistan and India were 17%, 73% and 22% respectively, the IEA said. However, there is a clear increase month on month of coal power generation," IEEFA energy finance analyst Ghee Peh said.

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