Japan still considering total nuclear power pullout

Japan is still contemplating a complete closure of its nuclear power stations as one option for the country's future
energy policy, according to the country's economy minister Yukio Edano.

"I am certain that we are going to reduce nuclear power generation but whether we are going to reduce it to zero is a separate issue," Edano told Reuters during  ministerial meeting hosted by the International Energy Agency in Paris.

Edano had earlier stated in a press briefing that Japan was working on improving its energy efficiency and would promote the development of renewable energy sources and of gas powered generation plants to make up for lost nuclear output.

Japan's prime minister Yoshihiko Noda has acknowledged that public safety concerns will make it tough to build new reactors, but has stopped short of saying atomic power would play no role at all by 2050.

He said decisions on reactors already under construction would have to be made "case-by-case".

Public concern about safety leapt after the Fukushima accident, which forced 80,000 people from their homes and sparked fears about food and water supply. Some 70 percent of voters polled in July backed Kan's call to phase out nuclear plants.

A series of scandals in which regulators and power companies tried to sway hearings on reactors has also dented public trust.