Reply #40: asia: Japan approves Tepco nuclear claims plan, reactor leaks

[xchrom]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/13/uk-japan-nuclear-tepco-idUKTRE74C04C20110513

Reuters) - Japan on Friday announced a plan to help Tokyo Electric Power compensate victims of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant without going broke while it struggles to resolve the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

The plan, agreed after weeks of wrangling between government officials, bankers and Tokyo Electric executives over who should pay for the crisis, allays investors' fears that a collapse of the power firm would roil financial markets.

It comes as engineers are still working to bring reactors under control at Tokyo Electric's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant north of Tokyo two months after the earthquake and tsunami that led to radiation leaks.

The government will issue special-purpose bonds to help finance a fund that will allow Asia's largest utility to handle compensation claims expected to run into tens of billions of dollars. No ceiling was set on Tokyo Electric's liabilities.



tax payers pony up.