Resource-poor Japan will need to build more nuclear power generators and raise the operation rate of such plants, the country's top energy official said on Friday.
The government will also stick to its policy of using reprocessed nuclear fuel at commercial power plants, Nobuyori Kodaira, director general of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, told Reuters in a interview.
Nuclear power generation is the key to sustain Japan's industries and high living standards, and is vital for cutting carbon dioxide emissions, he said. Renewable energy sources alone would not be enough to achieve these objectives, he added.
"The number of nuclear power units has to be increased," Kodaira said. "It would be preferable to have the utilisation rate of nuclear plants rise along with the fundamental requirement of operational safety."
Kodaira said the government would provide financial support for new plans to build nuclear, geothermal and hydroelectric power stations to help reduce CO2 emissions, but not for thermal power plants.
In Japan, the world's third-biggest energy consumer and which imports all of its crude oil requirements, a string of recent scandals at nuclear power plants has raised controversy over its nuclear policy.
In August, superheated steam and water leaked from a broken pipe at Kansai Electric Power Co's Mihama nuclear plant in western Japan and killed five people, marking Japan's worst accident at a nuclear power plant.
Kansai Electric said it would shut all of its nuclear units gradually for inspections following the accident. Eight of its 11 nuclear units have been closed, dragging the average utilisation of Japan's 52 nuclear power units down to 68.3 percent in August, compared with the normal rate of about 80 percent.
The energy agency estimates 10 more nuclear power units will be built by 2030, making nuclear power account for 40 percent of Japan's electricity, up from 30 percent now.
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