Japan: 1-J-Power to resume nuclear plant construction

TOKYO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Electric Power Development (J-Power) is set to resume construction of the Ohma nuclear power plant in northern Japan by the end of the year, Japanese media reported on Friday.

A company spokesman said J-Power may send an executive to meet officials of communities hosting its unfinished Ohma atomic plant on Oct. 1, the first such visit after the government announced a policy plan to shift away from nuclear power.

But he declined to comment further on whether it will resume construction. The company has said it would make a decision after consultation with local communities.

Japan's government this month decided to aim to end reliance on nuclear power by the 2030s, but under pressure from business lobbies quickly wavered on what would be a major shift from goals set before last year's Fukushima atomic disaster.

A 2010 plan had aimed to boost nuclear power to over 50 per cent of electricity needs by 2030, up from nearly 30 percent before Fukushima.

Yukio Edano, who as trade minister oversees energy policy, has since said that utilities could go ahead building plants whose construction had already been approved, such as the 1,383-megawatt Ohma plant, but any decision on whether they would keep operating beyond the 2030s would be taken later.

The Ohma plant was about 40 percent completed when construction was suspended after the massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 that devastated the Fukushima Daiichi plant.