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TOKYO (Reuters) - The shutdown of Japan's last working nuclear powerplant and the government's failure to convince a wary public aboutrestoring production at dozens of reactors leaves the world's thirdlargest economy facing another summer of severe power shortages. Hokkaido Electric Power Co shut its nuclear plant late on Saturday- the last of Japan's 50 reactors to go off line - marking thefirst time since 1970 Japan has been nuclear power-free. Japan's $5 trillion economy has relied heavily on nuclear power fordecades, with its reactors providing almost 30 percent ofelectricity needs, but last year's massive earthquake andsubsequent nuclear crisis spurred a public backlash against atomicenergy. Cabinet ministers have largely failed to win over the public toallow the restart of the country's plants - shut one by one forscheduled maintenance and unable to resume operations because ofconcerns about safety. Japan's Asahi newspaper said public sentiment was "wavering betweentwo sources of anxiety" - fear over the safety of nuclear power anddoubts on whether Japan can live without it. "The public shouldn't just criticize (the government) but make itsown decision on energy policy that involves burden andresponsibility, such as through cooperating in power saving," thepaper said in an editorial on Sunday. The government hopes to come up with an estimate by mid-May ofexpected shortages this summer, and will then produce a plan toconserve energy that could include compulsory curbs on use ofpower, Japanese media say. But setting a long-term energy policy or a clear timeframe forrestarting the plants will take time given strong public oppositionand a divided parliament that has paralyzed policy-making, analystssay. WIDESPREAD PAIN Policymakers are worried about the damage to the budding economicrecovery as the power shortages are expected to be more severe andwidespread than last summer, when many areas in Japan were stillrunning nuclear reactors. Some also warn of the long-term fallout as the rising cost ofelectricity, coupled with a strong yen, hits production and couldprompt companies to shift operations overseas. "Depending on the weather, power supply could constrain outputduring the summer," the Bank of Japan said. "But we must be mindful not just of such short-term effects but thechance (the power shortages) could hurt Japan's medium- andlong-term growth expectations," the central bank said in atwice-yearly report on the economy issued on April 27. Japan managed to get through the summer last year without anyblackouts by imposing voluntary curbs on the use of power in theaftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that left thousands dead. Factories operated at night and during weekends to avoid puttingtoo much stress on the country's power grids. Many big firms arealready preparing to take similar steps this summer, but some alsoplan to generate power themselves to cut costs. The last time Japan went without nuclear power was in May 1970,when the country's only two reactors operating at that time wereshut for maintenance, the Federation of Electric Power Companies ofJapan said. (Editing by Jeremy Laurence ). The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Cap Mould , Jar mould Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit PET Preform Mould today!
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