The Japanese government on Tuesday made it clear that its new energy policy banning new nuclear plants would not be applicable to plants already under construction.
The government's new energy policy limits nuclear reactor operation to 40 years, and bans construction of new plants or additional reactors.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the ban would not be applicable to nuclear plants currently under construction, but said the final decision was up to the nuclear regulatory panel, Japanese media reported.
Fujimura was referring to plants whose construction have already started in Aomori and Shimane prefectures.
Japan last week announced plans to end its reliance on nuclear power in 30 years and promote non-conventional energy sources to meet the country's energy requirements.
The move to close all its 50 functioning reactors by around 2040 comes after increased public protests against nuke power following last year's Fukushima accident, which sent radioactive materials into the ocean and atmosphere, contaminating food and water supply, and forced the evacuation of 160,000 residents in a 30-kilometer radius of the tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in Japan's north-east.
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