Japan's Naoto Kan pledges revolutionary shift from nuclear

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday promised a "revolutionary" shift away from nuclear power and towards renewable energy in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Reuters

His cabinet also agreed on a plan to rebuild after the 11 March earthquake and tsunami, saying reconstruction would cost around 19 trillion yen (170 billion euros) over the next five years.

A government panel said it would spend the rest of the year working on a new energy strategy.

"The Japanese government will aim for a society that does not depend on nuclear power and reduce its dependence on nuclear power in a planned and step-by-step manner," Kan said.

Earlier Friday the national policy minister, Koichiro Gemba, assigned by Kan to draft a plan to reduce atomic energy use, said the government would spend a year drafting a new "roadmap" on energy policy.