Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said he hopes to restart suspended nuclear reactors across the nation by next summer.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said he hopes to restart suspended nuclear reactors across the nation by next summer.
Speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 20, before leaving for the United States, Noda said, "From spring through next summer, we must bring (Japan's idle nuclear reactors) back up as best we can."
Noda had said earlier he would allow nuclear reactors to be restarted if their safety was confirmed. But this is the first time he has mentioned a specific schedule for resuming operations.
Concerning the supply and demand of electric power, Noda said: "We survived the summer with reduced power. We'll be OK this winter as well."
However, he said he wanted to see the reactors back in operation by next summer "because if we have a power shortage, it will drag down Japan's overall economy."
He also emphasized: "There is a national consensus on a phase-out from dependence on nuclear power. I want to create a society that is as little dependent as possible on nuclear power."
Noda said he was negative about selling government-owned shares of Japan Post Holdings Co. to procure nontax revenues to cover the cost of reconstruction following the Great East Japan Earthquake. But he said he would push for the sale of other government-owned shares, including those of Japan Tobacco Inc.