Japan, where the government has approved a plan to provide billions of dollars in public funds to the operator of the ailing Fukushima nuclear power plant.

　　Government officials say the 11.5 billion US dollars in aid is a preliminary instalment to shore up Tokyo Electric Power Corporation, which is suffering from a cash shortage for compensation and future reconstruction.

　　Goshi Hosono, Japan Nuclear Minister, said, "The restructuring plan that we have now in November will develop as new issues arise, so we will take that into consideration when making new budget plans during March of next year."

　　The approval came after the company and a state-backed fund submitted a business restructuring plan for the struggling utility. Under the plan, TEPCO will have to achieve a more than 32 billion US dollars in cost cutting over the next 10 years and lay-off more than seven-thousand employees in order to pay for the plant clean-up and compensation pay-outs.

　　According to the plan, the first government instalment will be supplemented after another compensation report is released in March, which could give rise to additional costs.

　　Goshi Hosono, Japan Nuclear Minister, said, "Scepticism from the international community towards how the Japanese government dealt with the matter is expected when it comes to a disaster of this magnitude. We must make the effort to respond to each concern that has been brought up, including concerns over the amount of released radioactive material."

　　The controversial fund is designed to enable the operator to fulfil its responsibilities arising from the nuclear crisis without going bankrupt. The government is contributing in the form of a special type of zero-interest government bond, which TEPCO will be obliged to pay back.