Via The Japan Times Online: Cabinet fails to OK new nuclear strategy. Excerpt:
In a shocking reversal, the Cabinet on Wednesday failed to approve the government's new energy policy by watering down its main goal — the elimination of Japan's reliance on nuclear energy by the 2030s — in a document needed to confirm the full power of its endorsement.
The document that the Cabinet signed off on stirred speculation that it gave special consideration to big business and governments that benefit from hosting nuclear facilities, the main entities opposed to the zero option.
The endorsement document, which the government put up for the Cabinet's official decision Wednesday, drops the 2030s deadline for eliminating atomic energy and states that the government will hold talks with local governments and the international community based on the policy and "implement (the policy) by conducting ongoing studies and review."
