Japan’s Nuclear Operator Could be Nationalized – Weighs on

Following the horrific earthquake and the nuclear catastrophe that followed, Japan’s nuclear power operator, Tepco, might find itself in the hands of the government. As Tepco’s finances were never too good anyway, there are growing talks about nationalization.

Here are some of the talks:

“Naturally it is possible that there will be various debates about the state of Tokyo Electric,” Gemba was quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying when asked about the possibility of nationalisation. The Yomiuri reported earlier had that some members of the government had proposed a plan for the state to take a majority stake in Tokyo Electric and help it pay for damages stemming from the nuclear accident.

The article also outlines a few different ways to handle the situation. In any case, nationalizing the energy supplier means more burden for the Japanese government, and this isn’t good for the yen.

USD/JPY already leaped earlier to pre-earthquake levels, but still has a long way to go to.