In an attempt to overturn the previous administration’s pledge to phase out nuclear power, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government will call it an “important source of energy for the country” in its new energy plan. The first draft of the plan disclosed at an expert panel meeting Friday described nuclear power as a way to “stabilize Japan’s energy supply-demand structure” and said that the country will continue to use it. Given the traumas of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident and widespread public opposition to nuclear power, the government’s declaration of the importance of nuclear energy is a significant step toward trying to restart some of Japan’s 50 currently idled reactors. The panel, appointed by Mr. Abe’s government, has been discussing the plan since the premier took office after his party won a landslide victory in the Lower House elections in December 2012. While Mr. Abe has made bringing […]