Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Fukushima Sea Contamination

Massive quantities of radioactive cesium spilled into the ocean. Fish are contaminated. Short-lived species may not be affected, but long lived species like whales could very well be affected.

Still-vacant towns near Chernobyl host increasing quantities of healthy wildlife. They are healthy simply because they don't live long enough for the radiation to kill them.

I'm not sure if the TEPCO run power plant construction was government funded or if it's operating expenses were taxation-theft supported, but let's assume it was completely private (which I doubt).

The Japanese government is funding a large bailout to TEPCO, the corporation running the plant. This is an obvious moral hazard which may have been factored into TEPCO's risk assessment at inception of the construction plan.

Without government funding, this kind of disaster (which was predictable, at least in terms of cost in the case of a tsunami) long term profitability would have to be calculated without government bailouts.

U.S. banks took large risks knowing there was a good chance of government bailouts. For this same reason, TEPCO may have taken risks it would not otherwise have taken were it not for the moral hazard of anticipated government bailouts.

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