Tokyo (Platts)--31Dec2012/506 am EST/1006 GMT
Japan will not restart any nuclear reactors until the Nuclear Regulation Authority sets new safety standards by July 2013, the new minister of economy, trade and industry, Toshimitsu Motegi, told reporters Friday. Motegi said "unless the Nuclear Regulation Authority judges the safety of nuclear reactors, the restart of the nuclear reactors is impossible." The Nuclear Regulation Authority was set up in September to regulate and monitor nuclear power plants. The government decided to set new safety standards for nuclear reactors to restart operations by July 2013. There are 50 nuclear reactors in Japan, but only two reactors -- Kansai Electric Power Company's No.3 and No.4 Ohi reactors -- are operating. After the accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, Japanese power companies have faced difficulties in restarting nuclear power plants. As a result, Japan's nuclear operation rates fell to 5.3% in November, down from 20.1% from a year earlier, according to the Federation of Electric Power Companies. The lower nuclear operation rates are boosting Japanese consumption of fuel oil, crude and LNG.--Atsuko Kawasaki, atsuko_kawasaki@platts.com --Edited by Jonathan Dart, jonathan_dart@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Nucleonics Week. See more information at http://www.platts.com/Products/nucleonicsweek