TOKYO (Reuters) – Can Japan afford to go nuclear-power-free? The country’s atomic power industry and many big business clients say “No,” arguing the step would boost electricity bills and pollution and hasten the hollowing out of Japanese manufacturing.

But the Fukushima nuclear disaster is galvanizing a coalition of safety-conscious voters and future-minded companies who increasingly believe that Japan cannot afford to stick with the status quo if it wants to be globally competitive.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s public should realize that phasing out nuclear power would not be risk-free, the vice chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission warned on Wednesday, as the government seeks to craft a new energy policy and the Fukushima crisis drags on.

The radiation crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima plant, triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, has sparked debate about the role of nuclear power in quake-prone, resource-poor Japan, as well as concerns about power shortages with 35 of the nation’s 54 reactors now halted.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan has no choice but to reduce its reliance on nuclear power, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Tuesday, as the country battles to end a four-month-old radiation crisis at a tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.

The unpopular prime minister appears increasingly sensitive to growing public concern about nuclear power, but whether he oversees an overhaul of energy policy is in doubt as he has promised to resign, although he has not specified when.

TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese nuclear power plant has come under fire for trying to sway the outcome of a public forum on atomic safety, dealing a fresh blow to the industry’s credibility four months after the world’s biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

An employee with Kyushu Electric Power Co instructed workers at the utility and its affiliates to pose as ordinary citizens and send e-mails backing the restart of nuclear reactors in southern Japan to a televised public hearing.

TOKYO (Reuters) – His own party, the opposition and most voters want him to go, but Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan could still cling to his post for months, jeopardising efforts to curb huge public debt and craft new energy policies after a nuclear crisis.

The unpopular Kan, who has promised to step down but has not set a date, suffered a fresh setback on Tuesday when his new minister in charge of rebuilding tsunami-hit regions resigned over comments that offended victims of the March 11 calamity.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan should reduce its reliance on atomic power but deep public debate is needed over whether to rule it out entirely, a potential candidate to replace Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Tuesday.

A nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s tsunami-crippled Fukushima plant is pushing Japan to reconsider the role of nuclear power in the quake-prone country, and Kan has begun a blank-slate review of a plan to boost atomic energy’s share to more than 50 percent of electricity supply by 2030.

TSURUGA, Japan, July 4 (Reuters) – Japanese housewife Kayako
Hayashi used to think nuclear power was a risk worth taking. Now
she just doesn’t know.

Nearly four months after a tsunami-triggered crisis at the
Fukushima nuclear plant on the other side of Japan, Hayashi –
who grew up with reactors in her hometown and married a nuclear
engineer — has deep doubts, but no answers.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Boxed in by rebels in his own party and a defiant opposition, Japan’s prime minister calls a snap election as a referendum on reform, setting the stage for a massive victory at the polls.

That was maverick Junichiro Koizumi in 2005.

Experts say embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan may be considering something similar to break a political impasse with the promise of ending Japan’s reliance on nuclear power and calling a snap poll to seek a mandate for the policy change.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Boxed in by rebels in his own party and a defiant opposition, Japan’s prime minister calls a snap election as a referendum on reform, setting the stage for a massive victory at the polls.

That was maverick Junichiro Koizumi in 2005.

Experts say embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan may be considering something similar to break a political impasse with the promise of ending Japan’s reliance on nuclear power and calling a snap poll to seek a mandate for the policy change.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Another year, another prime minister. Ousting leaders has become an annual ritual in Japan and pundits say whoever replaces outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan may also be gone before making headway on deep-seated ills, given an immature two-party system and a persistently divided parliament.

Kan’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) swept to power two years ago with pledges to change how the country is governed.