The Japanese government has approved a business turnaround plan submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, which includes restarting idled reactors at the utility’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The business plan approval is required under the terms of a $10 billion state bailout of Tepco, received after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster that was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The approval would allow the utility to receive an additional $38 billion in state funding, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tepco is facing massive costs of cleaning up the Fukushima plant and huge compensation payments to those affected by the disaster. The overall decommissioning of the facility is expected to take around 40 years. Japanese Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, when handing over the approval document Wednesday, told Tepco President Naomi Hirose: “This new plan is […]