TOKYO: Japan's government on Friday agreed to give the operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant $11.5 billion in aid to help it pay compensation to those affected by the disaster.
"Today, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano approved our emergency business plan," a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said.
Jiji Press reported that with the approval, the government would inject some 900 billion yen ($11.5 billion) in public funds into TEPCO "so that it can smoothly and promptly carry out its payment of compensation to victims of the accident."
The utility is looking to receive the first tranche from a government-backed aid body so it can avoid having a negative net worth on its April-September balance sheet, local media reported.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that the company would be releasing its earnings report at 0700 GMT Friday.
The restructuring plan the government had demanded also outlines cost cuts, asset sales and other steps required to help it meet compensation costs -- estimated by a government panel at 4.5 trillion yen by 2013 -- and secure further state help.
TEPCO's woes began when the 9.0-magnitude quake and massive tsunami of March 11 knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima plant, sparking meltdowns, a series of explosions and the release of huge amounts of radiation into the environment.
Tens of thousands of people remain evacuated from homes and businesses in a 20 kilometre (12 mile) no-go zone around the plant and in pockets beyond. Fully decontaminating those areas is expected to take decades.
The task of restoring towns and villages even in lightly polluted zones is complicated, with high costs and logistical difficulties over where to store soil contaminated with radioactive material.
Radioactive hotspots have also been found hundreds of kilometres away from the Fukushima Daiichi plant in parts of Tokyo and Yokohama, with rainfall and wind patterns blamed for the uneven dispersal.
The disaster has soured the mood among the Japanese public over nuclear power, with many worried about the health effects of the technology, which until March had provided a third of resource-poor Japan's electricity.
A government panel last month said that TEPCO would have to cut 7,400 jobs and slash costs by $33 billion over the next 10 years to help pay damages for the nuclear accident.
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