The government agreed Friday on a scheme to help Tokyo Electric Power Co bear its massive compensation burden resulting from the ongoing nuclear crisis at its Fukushima plant, by approving the creation of a new body to facilitate payments and monitor the company’s streamlining efforts.

The decision, delayed for a day due to disagreement inside the ruling party, is expected to ensure swift payment of the estimated trillions of yen in damages over the country’s worst nuclear accident, in which the release of huge amounts of radioactive substances has affected local residents and industries.

The government is expected to introduce necessary bills to the Diet during the ongoing parliamentary session to create the envisioned institution, which would play a role in injecting public money into TEPCO to save it from being crushed by debt.

The latest development came as TEPCO decided to accept all the conditions the government presented to the company after it asked for state support due to fears of a capital shortage.

Under the conditions, TEPCO will not set an upper limit on compensation payments in advance, will make maximum cost-cutting efforts and will accept an investigation into its management by a third-party panel set up by the government in a bid to ensure thorough cost-cutting and strict asset evaluation.

As for the envisioned institution, the government will issue and allocate to it a type of bond that gains no interest and can be cashed when necessary so it can secure funding to support TEPCO, according to a draft government plan.

The new body would seek contributions from electricity firms that own nuclear power plants other than TEPCO and is also expected to function as an insurance entity to prepare for possible future nuclear accidents.

But concerns linger that the scheme may lead utilities to pass on the costs to consumers through electricity bills.

The nuclear disaster triggered in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan has forced many residents around the Fukushima Daiichi plant to evacuate from their homes, and damaged the agriculture, livestock and fishery industries in the region.

With TEPCO still struggling to bring troubled reactors under control, the total cost of compensation and expenses for decommissioning the six-reactor complex is not yet clear.