Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) will sell its entire stake in telecom operator KDDI worth about $2.4 billion to help pay compensation for the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the utility said Monday.

The operator of the crippled nuclear plant holds nearly 360,000 shares in KDDI, about an eight percent stake, making it one of the telecom giant's biggest shareholders.

In a company statement, the embattled power firm said it would sell 357,541 shares in KDDI for 186.28 billion yen ($2.4 billion).

The share sale would result in a loss of 35 billion yen, TEPCO said, adding that it would help it "streamline operations" and raise money for the "urgent special project plan," referring to the Fukushima payout.

KDDI said it would, from Tuesday, offer to buy back about 250 billion yen worth of its own shares, including those sold by TEPCO.

Earlier this month, the Japanese government agreed to give TEPCO about 900 billion yen to help it pay compensation to those affected by the worst atomic disaster in 25 years.

The public assistance was seen as key to the firm's survival as it forecasts a net loss of 576.3 billion yen for the current fiscal year, even after receiving the taxpayer money.

On a group basis, TEPCO expects an annual loss of 600 billion yen for the year through March amid cleanup and higher fuel costs as it replaces lost nuclear generation with expensive thermal power.

In return for the public funds, the utility will reduce operating costs by 237.4 billion yen for the current fiscal year and slash its group workforce by 7,400 workers -- 14 percent of the total -- by March 2014, it said.

A government panel has estimated compensation costs could soar to 4.5 trillion yen by 2013.

TEPCO's woes began when the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami of March 11 knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima plant, sparking meltdowns, explosions and the release of huge amounts of radiation into the environment -- the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

The plant continues to leak radiation, although TEPCO and the government insist the reactors will all be brought to cold shutdown by the end of the year.

The atomic crisis, which has seen radiation leaking into the air, sea and food chain, has not in itself claimed any lives but has badly dented the reputation of nuclear power, a key source of energy in resource-poor Japan.

Thousands of people remain evacuated from a large area around the plant, with no indication when those who left homes and farms in the shadow of the reactors will be able to return.