Japan PM: Restart nuke reactors for 'survival of society'
After quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, country shut down all 50 reactors, risking power shortages
TOKYO — Japan's prime minister said on Friday that two idled nuclear reactors in western Japan must be restarted to protect jobs and ensure the "survival of society", risking a voter backlash given safety fears more than a year after the Fukushima crisis.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda sought to soothe those worries at a news conference just hours after the former president of Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co testified in front of a panel appointed by parliament to probe the disaster.
The ex-president, Masataka Shimizu, denied allegations he had considered pulling out all the plant's workers as they battled the world's worst atomic accident in 25 years following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
But he acknowledged he might not have been clear about his intentions.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47731051/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/
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