Fukushima No. 1 decommissioning costs already 70% spent, audit finds, with total likely to exceed ¥8 trillion

The Board of Audit puts spending and projected spending at ¥5.83 trillion against a government estimate of ¥8 trillion, with only part of the hardest work — removing melted fuel — counted so far.

By Newsroom7 November 2026, 14:00 JST1 min read

Fukushima No. 1 decommissioning costs already 70% spent, audit finds, with total likely to exceed ¥8 trillion — Reactor 3 (left) and Reactor 4 at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, photographed from a company helicopter at 1:53 p.m. on February 9, 2026. (x)

Decommissioning work at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has already consumed or committed more than 70% of the ¥8 trillion the government says the job will cost, according to the Board of Audit. The board put spending and projected spending at ¥5.8341 trillion.

Only part of the cost of removing melted fuel debris, the most difficult part of the work, is included in that figure, leaving room for the total to rise. Tepco is supposed to cover the entire bill, which puts the question of how the money will be raised in play.

The audit covered the period up to the end of March 2026, 15 years after the accident. It is the board's first report on the accident response since November 2022.

What the money covers

Decommissioning costs include removing fuel debris from the melted cores of reactors 1 through 3, managing contaminated water, and taking spent fuel out of storage pools. The government and Tepco aim to finish decommissioning in 2051.

Trial removal of fuel debris began in 2024. Full-scale removal is scheduled to start at reactor 3 in fiscal 2027 or later.

The audit found ¥2.2477 trillion had been spent on decommissioning as of the end of fiscal 2025. The published article does not give the breakdown of the remainder.