The Japanese government is to call on the 17 board members of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) to resign at the next shareholder meeting in June over their handling of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, dpa reported citing news reports Saturday. The resignations are considered a precondition for the company to receive a planned cash injection of 1 trillion yen (12.4 billion dollars), daily Mainichi reported, citing unnamed government officials. The government is also expected to force company chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, who has already announced he will step down, to give up his retirement allowance, and to halve the number of board members. Several government and NDF officials are also calling for the appointment of younger employees to the board. The March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, knocking out power and leading to the failure of the cooling systems at its reactors. More than 80,000 residents have been forced to leave the surrounding areas.
