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.
