Nuclear Power Opposed by 70% at Japan Hearings, Asahi Reports

Around 70 percent of participants in public hearings to gauge opinion on Japan’s energy policy have said the nation should end nuclear-power generation by 2030, the Asahi newspaper reported.

The government held meetings in Hiroshima and Naha yesterday, the seventh and eight hearings in which members of the public debate what proportion of the nation’s energy should be nuclear-generated.

Eleven percent of the 1,253 people to take part in the meetings so far said atomic power should make up 15 percent of the nation’s energy mix, with 17 percent of people favoring 20-25 percent, according to the Asahi.

The government will take results of the hearings into account in finalizing its energy policy. Final hearings will take place in Fukushima on Aug. 1, and Takamatsu and Fukuoka on Aug. 4, the report said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Sharp in Tokyo at asharp5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gearoid Reidy at greidy1@bloomberg.net