Can not-restarting nuke reactors be an option?

Edano wants concrete steps to boost nuclear safety

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120406_16.html

Japanese industry minister Yukio Edano says he will order power companies to submit their nuclear maintenance timetables in order to further enhance safety at nuclear power plants.

Edano faced reporters on Friday, one day after the Cabinet basically agreed on new nuclear safety standards in connection with the possible restart of 2 reactors currently offline for inspections.

Edano said the most important lesson learned from the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi was that power companies had failed to regularly enhance safety measures by incorporating new ideas.

He said the government will ask the power companies for their nuclear maintenance timetables to implement further safety measures incorporating the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident.

Edano said the Cabinet ministers will examine the timetables closely before making decisions on whether to approve any reactor restarts.

He also said there is no need to restart the reactors if the country has sufficient power, or if energy-saving measures can sufficiently reduce power consumption.

All but one of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors are now offline.