The government decided that to clarify the responsibility over the firm's management, all 17 directors would have to go, the newspaper said without citing sources, adding that it also plans to halve the number of directors on the new board.

The government and Tepco, the operator of the tsunami-struck Fukushima nuclear plant, have fought over how much say the government will have in the utility's management in exchange for what would be one of the world's biggest bailouts outside of the banking sector.

Tepco, which serves some 45 million people, has said it wants to keep its autonomy as a private utility. But Trade Minister Yukio Edano, who holds the energy portfolio, has demanded the bailout body should have a controlling stake.

Tepco said this month it expected to post a group net loss of 695 billion yen in the year to March 31.

Media reports have said a business plan to rebuild the company will call for the utility to swing into profit in fiscal 2014.

(Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Ed Lane)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency