TOKYO, Nov 7 (KUNA) -- The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said Wednesday compensation and clean-up operation costs for the 2011 radiation accident may exceed the current estimate of JPY 5 trillion (USD 62 billion).

The costs could double to JPY 10 trillion (USD 125 billion), beyond its capacity to pay, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said in a new management plan covering the next two fiscal years. The utility also said it would seek more financial support from the government to keep paying compensation to people affected by the Fukushima disaster, clean-up, and decommissioning costs.

The Fukushima nuclear plant, 230 km north of Tokyo, was severely damaged by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and huge tsunami on March 11 last year that left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing. The twin natural disasters knocked out the plant's cooling systems, sparking reactor meltdowns and radiation leaks. The worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986 also forced tens of thousands of residents around the plant to evacuate and damaged the agriculture, livestock, and fishery industries in the region.

In addition, TEPCO currently relies on relatively expensive fossil-fuel-fired plants to make up the loss of nuclear power as all but two of 50 working reactors in the quake-prone country are offline in the wake of the Fukushima accident.

Since July, Japan's largest power utility has been under effective state control in exchange for receiving a capital injection from the state-backed fund.