As the government sounds out the public about Japan's nuclear options, the intermediate option of reducing the nation's dependence on atomic energy to 15 percent by 2030 is winning favor.
If the government's policy to "basically" limit the service life of reactors to 40 years is strictly adhered to, as stated recently by Shunichi Tanaka, the candidate to head the new nuclear regulatory authority, their number will fall to 20 from 50 by 2030.
If the remaining reactors operate at 80 percent of capacity and no new ones are built, nuclear power would account for 15 percent of Japan's total energy supply. In fiscal 2010, the figure stood at 26 percent.