Japan's New PM To Permit New Nuclear Plants

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe inspects the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture on December 29.

Two days after visiting the site of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will allow new nuclear power plants to be constructed in the country.

Abe said he intends to reverse a decision by the previous government to reduce Japan's dependence on nuclear power that included shutting down some 50 reactors.

That decision was made after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami that flooded Fukushima and caused an explosion at the plant.

Dangerous amounts of radiation were released into the surrounding area, which was evacuated and is now uninhabitable.

Abe promised "new reactors will be totally different" from those used at Fukushima and that "we will be building them with consent obtained from the Japanese people."

Based on reporting by AFP and dpa