Cameco awarded $40M US in damages in dispute with Japanese power company

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has been ordered to pay Canadian uranium mining company Cameco $40.3 million US in damages, Cameco said in a news release.

In 2017, TEPCO issued a contract termination saying it had been unable to operate its nuclear power generating plants due to tough government regulations arising from the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown in 2011.

The company argued the shutdown was a "force majeure," or unavoidable catastrophe that cancels the contract. However, Cameco disagreed and took the company to court.

A tribunal of international arbitrators rejected TEPCO's argument that the shutdown was a force majeure and awarded Cameco the $40.3 million US in damages, though Cameco had claimed damages were about $700 million US.

"We are pleased that the Tribunal agreed that TEPCO was not entitled to terminate the supply agreement, but we are disappointed with the amount of damages awarded," Cameco President and CEO Tim Gitzelsaid in a newsrelease. "However, remember we had already removed this contract from our financial outlook. So, overall the result is positive for us."

Cameco has cut half of its Saskatchewan workforce since the Fukushima meltdown.