Japan unveiled its first draft energy policy since the Fukushima meltdowns three years ago, saying nuclear power remains an important source of electricity for the country.

The draft presented on Tuesday to the Cabinet for approval expected in March, said Japan's nuclear energy dependency will be reduced as much as possible, but that reactors meeting new safety standards set after the 2011 nuclear crisis should be restarted.

Japan has 48 commercial reactors, but all are offline until they pass new safety requirements.

The draft of the Basic Energy Plan said that a mix of nuclear, renewable and fossil fuels will be the most reliable and stable source of electricity to meet Japan's energy needs. It did not specify the exact mix, citing uncertain factors such as the number of reactor restarts and the pace of renewable energy development.

The government had planned to release the draft in January, but a recommendation submitted by an expert panel was judged to be too pro-nuclear. Tuesday's draft placed slightly more emphasis on renewable energy. Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, in charge of compiling the plan, told reporters that "in principle, the direction has not changed". He called for additional efforts to accelerate renewable energy development over the next few years.

The draft says Japan will continue its nuclear fuel recycling policy for now despite uncertainty at key facilities for the program, but added there is a need for "flexibility" for possible changes to the policy down the road.

Japan has tons of spent fuel and a stockpile of extracted plutonium, causing international concerns about nuclear proliferation. Officials have said the most realistic way to consume and reduce the plutonium is to restart the reactors to burn it.

The previous energy plan compiled in 2010 called for a boost in nuclear power to about half of Japan's electricity needs by 2030 from about one-third before the Fukushima disaster.

A Cabinet Office official said on Monday that Japan will lift an exclusion order on an area around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, allowing some residents to return to live for the first time since the disaster, AFP reported.

"The formal lifting of the evacuation order will come on April 1, affecting around 300 people" whose homes are in Tamura city, about 20 km west of the impaired plant, the official said.

Over the next two years, up to 30,000 people will be allowed to return to their homes in the original exclusion zone, thrown up in a bid to protect people from the harmful effects of leaking radiation, he added.

Once the evacuation order is lifted, people will be free to choose whether or not to return home, the official said.

"Compensation (paid by the government and Fukushima operator Tokyo Electric Power) will continue, in terms of properties and the disaster-led joblessness," he said.

"But the monthly pay of 100,000 yen ($980) to address emotional distress caused by the accident will end if residents decide to return home," he said.

AP-AFP

(China Daily 02/26/2014 page10)