Japan backs down from nuclear phase-out goal of 2040

New York Times : Because of opposition from businesses and communities that host nuclear power stations, the Japanese government is reconsidering a plan to eliminate nuclear power. Up until last year, Japan got 30% of its electricity from 54 reactors spread around the country. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, however, all of the reactors were eventually shut down. Business groups and communities that depend on the plants have been pushing to have them reopened, but much of the general public remains skeptical of the government’s ability to oversee nuclear safety. In response, the government has opened a new agency to better regulate its nuclear industry and ensure that there remains “a strict separation between those who regulate nuclear power and those who use it,” according to Yukio Edano, Japan’s minister of economy, trade, and industry.