Japan gov't proposes postponing decision on nuclear fuel cycle policy

The government proposed Tuesday to a subpanel of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission carrying over a policy decision on the country's nuclear fuel cycle or temporarily suspending the operation of the used nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in northeastern Japan, officials said. The secretariat of the five-member commission, which supervises the country's nuclear policy, filed the proposal as the outlook for the operation of existing reactors and development of fast breeder reactors has become unclear following the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The subpanel, which aims to compile options for the nuclear fuel cycle policy as an input for the government's basic energy strategy to be adopted around summer, will deepen discussions on the country's nuclear policies on the basis of the proposal, the officials said.