Majority of Japanese Oppose Nuclear Power Reactors: Poll

A majority of Japanese favor phasing out of nuclear power plants, a poll published in the Japanese newspaper Tokyo Shimbun showed Sunday.

The poll was conducted on the first anniversary of the tsunami-generated nuclear crisis. The poll by Japan Association for Public Opinion Research showed that 79.6 percent of people who participated in the poll favored the phasing out of nuclear power reactors.

At the same time, 69 percent believed that some nuclear reactors need to be restarted to ensure enough power supply till alternate power sources are tapped. Only 28 percent of people were against phasing out the nuclear power reactors.

The debate over the nuclear power gathered momentum in Japan after a devastating earthquake and a killer tsunami damaged the Fukushima atomic power plant in northeast Tokyo. There was strong public outcry against the nuclear power after the incident.

Before the incident, Japan depended on nuclear power to meet nearly 30 percent of the country's electricity demand.

After the disaster, only two of the country's 54 nuclear reactors are operating currently, and both the reactors are scheduled to be shut by early May and this is expected to aggravate the power shortage in summer, cording to Reuters.

The government is still mulling over the decision to allow the restart of two idled reactors as a short term arrangement to battle the power shortage crisis.