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Empresas y finanzas

Japan should aim at society not dependent on nuclear power: PM


    TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Wednesday that Japan should aim at a society that is not dependent on nuclear power, given the experience of the Fukushima radiation crisis, the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years.

    He also said Japan would be able to cope with summer power shortages because of energy conservation efforts and companies' in-house power supplies, despite the large number of reactors now off-line for inspections or other work.

    The unpopular prime minister has become increasingly sensitive to growing public concern about nuclear power, but whether he oversees an overhaul of energy policy is in doubt since he has promised to resign, although he has not said when.

    Nuclear energy accounted for about 30 percent of Japan's power supply before March 11, when a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima plant north of Tokyo. That ratio slipped to 18 percent in June.

    (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka)