Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) faced the wrath¹ of angry shareholders³ at its first annual meeting since the 11 March earthquake and tsunami⁴.

日本3·11地震和海啸过后，东京电力公司召开首次年度会议，会议期间该公司面临股东的愤怒指责。

There has been growing anger over the way Tepco has handled the Fukushima Daiichi radiation crisis
Shareholders demanded that the company abandon nuclear energy in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis.

Tepco may have to pay compensation of almost $100bn (£63bn) following radiation leaks at its nuclear plant.

Tepco shares have plunged⁵ since the quake and tsunami damaged the facility.

Shareholders also criticised management for the way they handled the crisis.

However, the company assured investors⁶ that it was confident of finding a solution to the crisis soon.

"We're working to get out of this crisis as quickly as possible," said Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tepco.

Nuclear concerns

The biggest debate among shareholders revolved⁷ around the future of nuclear energy and what the company's stand on the issue should be.

Many were of the opinion that Tepco should abandon nuclear energy.

They said that it did not have a feasible（可行的，可能的） future, not least because of the ongoing⁸ Fukushima nuclear crisis.

"They're going to have to give up nuclear power in the next few years," said a shareholder² from Nagano.

"Construction of new plants is going to be impossible," he added.

However, analysts⁹ said that the current power shortage in Japan was proof that the country needed nuclear energy in order to meet its demand for electricity.

"The question is, can Japan do without nuclear power?" said Mitsushige Akino, of Ichiyoshi Investment Management Company.

"How much are the Japanese people willing to sacrifice in terms of standard of living?" he added.

"The sentiment（感情，情绪） is understandable, but the reality is that this is difficult without considerable sacrifice to economic growth and activity."