Japan ministers to meet on reactor restarts

The ministerial meeting was called after local government authorities, long concerned about whether reconnecting the reactors would be safe, gave ground by signalling their agreement to the restarts as a "limited" measure.

A decision by Noda to restart the reactors, operated by Kansai Electric Power, would ease concerns among firms in western Japan, including struggling electronics giants Panasonic Corp and Sharp Corp.

But the move would also risk a backlash from voters that would undermine Noda's already sagging public support.

Nuclear power supplied nearly 30 percent of Japan's electricity needs before last year's earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant - the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years. But all of the country's 50 reactors have since been taken offline for checks.

The government has been struggling to win support from local authorities for the restarts, although their permission is not legally required.

The governors and mayors from western Japan had earlier indicated that they would agree to restarting the two reactors at Kansai Electric's Ohi plant as a "limited" measure while Tokyo finalises new safety steps.

Noting the central government has yet to set up a new regulatory agency, promised after the disaster, the Union of Kansai Governments said current safety standards were therefore provisional. Parliament began debate on creating the new agency this week after months of delay.

"Therefore, we strongly urge an appropriate decision of limited scope concerning the restart of the Ohi reactors," the group of seven governors and two mayors said in a statement after meeting Environment Minister Goshi Hosono.

Anti-nuclear activists have cast doubt on the government's assurances that the two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co's Ohi plant in Fukui, western Japan, were safe.

"We have consistently said that none of the safety or emergency measures that have been called for by experts in the community have been completed," said Greg McNevin, a spokesman for Greenpeace International.

"Our consistent position is that this is being rushed."

(Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Ron Popeski)