A senior government official in charge of nuclear policy planning on Friday admitted pressing the Japan Atomic Energy Commission last year over continuing to generate nuclear power.
Industry minister Yukio Edano, who oversees the country’s energy policy, expressed regret over the incident, telling a news conference he doesn’t want the public to think the government is scheming to maintain Japan’s reliance on atomic energy.
Kyoji Yoshino, a director at the Natural Resources and Energy Agency, on Dec. 27 handed a document to the commission’s head, Shunsuke Kondo, stating that “analyzing a scenario for abolishing nuclear power could encourage those concerned (about safety issues) and would not help maintain” atomic energy operations, the industry ministry said.
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