An internal Defense Agency document says that cuts in Self-Defense Forces personnel and equipment as proposed by the Finance Ministry could leave nuclear reactors open to attack and hamper disaster relief operations.

The document was drafted by officers in all three branches of the SDF, agency sources said. It is aimed at countering the Finance Ministry's informal proposal that Ground Self-Defense Force personnel be cut by 40,000 to 120,000 and the number of tanks and artillery pieces be reduced by 50 percent to 60 percent.

A cut in SDF personnel is one of the issues in the government plan to update the long-term National Defense Program Outline later this month.