Japan seeks voluntary energy-use reduction

Japanese officials have urged businesses and households in parts of the country to reduce electricity consumption to avoid possible blackouts. The request to cut usage by 15 percent is in the industrialized area of western Japan, served by Kansai Electric Power, the BBC reported Friday. The country faces power shortages during the summer because its 50 nuclear reactors have been taken off-line. The call for the reduction would be effective from July to September. Officials said the move isn't mandatory, unlike reductions imposed in the eastern parts of the country last summer after a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima power plant triggered by an earthquake and tsunami. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the shutdown of nuclear plants created the "need to widely instigate power-saving measures." "The government will try hard to figure out how to implement the measures ... so that the power savings will affect the economy and people's livelihood as little as possible," he said. "But I would like to repeat here our appeal to the nation to save power this summer." Before the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, about 30 percent of Japan's electricity was powered by nuclear energy. Japan's last nuclear reactor went off-line for routine maintenance two weeks ago. None have been switched back on so far, the BBC said. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Thursday he would decide soon on restarting two idle nuclear reactors at Kansai Electric's Ohi nuclear plant.