Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has asked the government for an extra 690bn yen ($9bn; £5.6bn) to compensate victims of the nuclear crisis.
The firm has already received $7.1bn in public funds, and there is growing speculation it may be nationalised.
Tepco controls the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and is facing almost $100bn in compensation claims.
The plant was damaged by the March tsunami and some 80,000 people had to be evacuated after a radiation leak.
"We have reviewed the estimated sum of compensation after the committee addressing compensation disputes decided on additional measures to compensate victims who voluntarily evacuated," Tepco said in a statement.
Desperate times
Tepco, Japan's biggest utility provider, has been facing an uncertain future since the March earthquake and tsunami.
Last week, the company announced that it was raising electricity prices for corporate clients for the first time in more than 30 years, due to a higher cost of operations.
The quake and tsunami forced it to shut 15 of its 17 nuclear power plants, and resort to thermal power stations for electricity generation, increasing its fuel costs.
To make matters worse, a panel investigating the Fukushima nuclear disaster has chastised the company for being ill-prepared for such a calamity.
It said response failures and the general lack of preparedness worsened the effects of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Nationalisation?
Tepco provides almost one-third of Japan's electricity, and powers some of the most economically important areas of the country. A failure of the company is likely to have disastrous consequences.
That has led to growing speculation that the government may take over the firm.
The Nikkei business daily has reported that Japan's trade and industry minister Yukio Edano will urge the company to accept an injection of public funds to ease its burden.
Mr Edano is scheduled to meet with Tepco's president, Toshio Nishizawa, on Tuesday, following a meeting of cabinet ministers about Tepco and electricity reform.
Last week, Japanese media reported that the government may pick up a two-thirds stake in Tepco, a move that analysts say would result in de-facto nationalisation of the company.
Tepco and the government had both denied the reports at that time.
bbc.co.uk
The firm has already received $7.1bn in public funds, and there is growing speculation it may be nationalised.
Tepco controls the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and is facing almost $100bn in compensation claims.
The plant was damaged by the March tsunami and some 80,000 people had to be evacuated after a radiation leak.
"We have reviewed the estimated sum of compensation after the committee addressing compensation disputes decided on additional measures to compensate victims who voluntarily evacuated," Tepco said in a statement.
Desperate times
Tepco, Japan's biggest utility provider, has been facing an uncertain future since the March earthquake and tsunami.
Last week, the company announced that it was raising electricity prices for corporate clients for the first time in more than 30 years, due to a higher cost of operations.
The quake and tsunami forced it to shut 15 of its 17 nuclear power plants, and resort to thermal power stations for electricity generation, increasing its fuel costs.
To make matters worse, a panel investigating the Fukushima nuclear disaster has chastised the company for being ill-prepared for such a calamity.
It said response failures and the general lack of preparedness worsened the effects of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Nationalisation?
Tepco provides almost one-third of Japan's electricity, and powers some of the most economically important areas of the country. A failure of the company is likely to have disastrous consequences.
That has led to growing speculation that the government may take over the firm.
The Nikkei business daily has reported that Japan's trade and industry minister Yukio Edano will urge the company to accept an injection of public funds to ease its burden.
Mr Edano is scheduled to meet with Tepco's president, Toshio Nishizawa, on Tuesday, following a meeting of cabinet ministers about Tepco and electricity reform.
Last week, Japanese media reported that the government may pick up a two-thirds stake in Tepco, a move that analysts say would result in de-facto nationalisation of the company.
Tepco and the government had both denied the reports at that time.
bbc.co.uk
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