In what is effectively a nationalization, the government will help avert the collapse of once-powerful Tepco, the supplier of power to almost 45 million people in and around Tokyo.

The injection of 1 trillion yen ($12.5 billion) brings total government support for the company to at least 3.5 trillion yen since the meltdowns at Fukushima in March last year, triggered by an earthquake and a tsunami.

The eventual cost of the nuclear disaster, including compensation and clean-up costs, has been estimated at more than $100 billion.

I'm surprised this didn't happen much sooner.