Japan’s trade minister on Friday denied a media report and said the government is not considering building new nuclear plants or replacing existing reactors.
The Nikkei business daily reported earlier that Japan’s trade ministry would launch a panel as early as this month to revise the country’s energy plan and consider building new nuclear plants or replacing existing plants in the future.
The government will keep its current plan, set up in 2014, to reduce its reliance on nuclear energy, according to the Nikkei report, but also says that keeping nuclear power at a minimal share of the overall energy mix would require the construction of new reactors.
“At this point, we are not thinking of new construction or replacement at all,” Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters, dismissing the report as groundless.
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A target by the industry ministry for nuclear to provide about a fifth of the country’s electricity in 2030 provoked widespread criticism when it was finalised in 2015.
(Reporting by Ami Miyazaki; Writing by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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