Japan's Toshiba eyes nuclear power alliance

Toshiba plans to sell some of its controlling stake in nuclear-power unit Westinghouse Electric as it looks to form an alliance to tap demand in emerging markets, reports said on Tuesday. The Japanese engineering giant, which holds about 67 percent of Westinghouse, said it would sell as much as 16 percent of the US firm to buyers with a foothold in nations eager to build nuclear plants, after demand in post-Fukushima Japan fell away. "While keeping our stake at more than 50 percent, we are considering selling the rest to a potential partner," Toshiba spokesman Atsushi Ido told Dow Jones Newswires. Toshiba's plan was part of a strategy aimed at building an alliance with multiple partners to help tap China and other emerging nations, the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The demand for new reactors in Japan vanished after last year's March 11 quake-tsunami disaster sparked reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, the worst atomic crisis in a generation. In the wake of the crisis, Japan switched off its stable of 50 nuclear reactors. It has since restarted two reactors, sparking huge protests amid a wave of anti-nuclear sentiment.