The Japanese engineering giant, which holds about 67 percent of Westinghouse, said it would sell as much as 16 percent of the US firm to buyers with a foothold in nations eager to build nuclear plants, after demand in post-Fukushima Japan fell away.

"While keeping our stake at more than 50 percent, we are considering selling the rest to a potential partner," Toshiba spokesman Atsushi Ido told Dow Jones Newswires.

Toshiba's plan was part of a strategy aimed at building an alliance with multiple partners to help tap China and other emerging nations, the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

The demand for new reactors in Japan vanished after last year's March 11 quake-tsunami disaster sparked reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, the worst atomic crisis in a generation.

In the wake of the crisis, Japan switched off its stable of 50 nuclear reactors. It has since restarted two reactors, sparking huge protests amid a wave of anti-nuclear sentiment.