Japan shuts down last nuclear reactor

(Vatican Radio) Japan is shutting down the only nuclear reactor still generating electricity there. Since the Fukushima disaster, most reactors have remained off-line. But as Alastair Wanklyn reports from Tokyo, power companies are lobbying for widespread restarts.

The reactor is one of only two that have functioned in Japan since the Fukushima crisis. It was restarted last year to ease the power burden and was always scheduled to go off-line again about now.

Japan's 50 reactors used to generate about a third of the electricty here. To make up for the shortfall, power companies have been importing extra coal, oil and gas, and pushing up prices they charge users.

The company behind the reactor now shutting down said. ..it hopes its other reactors will soon get permission to restart.

But inspectors have recently rewritten safety rules to address some of the problems of the Fukushima disaster. They now mandate measures such as more reliable back-up cooling systems, having more fire engines on site, and having an emergency operations room that might stand up better in a serious accident.

But power companies also now need to obtain the consent of local communities before they power up reactors nearby.

Some towns will say yes, particularly those where the plant offers the main local employment. But this weekend here in Tokyo, about 8,000 anti-nuclear lobbyists mounted a street protest, and while the Fukushima crisis continues in some areas nationwide power companies may have difficulty obtaining local approval. Listen to Alastair Wanklyn's report