New Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoshio Hachiro hinted that some of the nuclear reactors currently undergoing stress tests will be brought back into operation before April if their safety can be confirmed.

"We are expecting to get a result of the first-stage stress test for probably one reactor from each utility firm within one month . . . I don't think it will take until April" for the government to make a final decision of whether to resume operation, Hachiro said during an interview with media organizations Monday night.

After the results are submitted, he said the government will ask the International Atomic Energy Agency to review them.