With the nuclear crisis pressing hard on the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Friday reported a record net loss of 1.24 trillion yen ($15.2 million) for the fiscal year that ended in March.
The figure does not include the massive compensation payments TEPCO will need to give to people and companies that suffered from the nuclear crisis centered around the plant.
As the company reported the biggest loss it has ever had, TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu announced his widely expected resignation on Friday. Shimizu, 66, was hospitalized for a while due to dizziness and high blood pressure shortly after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the plant.
“[The Fukushima incident] has created a considerable amount of anxiety and brought great concerns to the public,” Shimizu told reporters from the company’s headquarters in Tokyo, according to The Japan Times.
“I must take responsibility, and it’s important to draw a line—right now,” said Shimizu, who has spent the last month visiting evacuation centers to apologize to victims.
Toshio Nishizawa, 60, a 36-year veteran from TEPCO’s planning division, will take over the presidency from Shimizu, who will step down after the utility’s June 28 shareholders’ meeting.
Aside from Shimizu, TEPCO Executive VP Makio Fujiwara, Executive VP Sakae Muto, and Director Tomijirou Morita also announced that they will step down. Tsunehisa Katsumata, 71, will stay on as chairman for the time being.
After a board meeting on Friday, TEPCO said in a press release that it will decommission its No. 1 to 4 reactors, the more problematic ones of the plant’s six reactors during the nuclear crisis, and abolish its plan to build No. 7 and 8 reactors.
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