The president of Japanese company Tokyo Electric Power – TEPCO – will step down over the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. Masataka Shimizu's resignation comes as the firm reported a record loss of more than 14 billion dollars for the past financial year after being hit by huge costs as a result of the crisis. The Fukushima nuclear plant was badly damaged in the March earthquake and tsunami, and has been leaking radiation ever since. TEPCO will appoint current managing director Toshio Nishizawa to replace Shimizu, effective after a June shareholders' meeting. The loss for Japan's biggest utility comes amid criticism over its handling of the nuclear crisis, in which it faces massive compensation claims, prompting the government to devise a rescue plan.