Japan's TEPCO to name new chairman

The operator of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is getting a new chairman, Japan's (NHK World) reported. The board of directors at Tokyo Electric Power Company has chosen an outside director Fumio Sudo for the top post. Sudo will replace the current chairman Kazuhiko Shimokobe. Shimokobe expressed his intention to step down last month after the utility submitted a new business plan to the government. Sudo joined Kawasaki Steel in 1964. In 2005, he became president of JFE Holdings, which was set up through Kawasaki's merger with another steelmaker, NKK. He has been an outside director for TEPCO since 2012. In drafting the company's business plan, Sudo proposed steps to streamline operations and boost profits. He also requested that the government shoulder part of the cost for decontamination at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Sudo will officially assume the post on April 1st.