Japan, which is facing increased domestic resistance to nuclear power since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, plans to export nuclear technology to developing countries, and is expected to resume negotiations with Brazil over nuclear cooperation.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff who is visiting Japan next week will meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on June 27, and they are expected to resume talks toward a nuclear cooperation deal, Japan's NHK broadcaster reported on Thursday.
Negotiations with Brazil on nuclear cooperation remain suspended since the quake-triggered tsunami wrecked the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant two years ago. One of the emerging economies in Latin America, Brazil plans to build nuclear power stations to meet its growing energy needs.
Abe had agreed with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to speed up talks toward a nuclear pact when the latter visited Japan last month.
Earlier this week, the Japanese Premier and the leaders of four Eastern European countries said they would deepen cooperation in the energy sector, including nuclear power.
Despite public concerns in Japan about the safety of nuclear power, the Abe administration is expected to offer continuing support to local firms that want to export nuclear technology, the broadcaster said.
Abe is of the view that Japan should promote better nuclear safety by sharing the lessons it had learned from the Fukushima accident.
Meanwhile, authorities in Japan's Fukushima prefecture has demanded that the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, quickly determine how groundwater was contaminated with radioactive material around the plant, and take steps to prevent it leaking into the sea.
They summoned TEPCO Managing Director Akio Komori to the prefectural government office on Wednesday. Komori apologized for the trouble and pledged to determine its cause and to step up monitoring.
Tetsuya Hasegawa, head of the prefecture's environment division, expressed disappointment that the trouble happened amid repeated requests to guarantee safety in handling contaminated wastewater in the process of scrapping the plant's reactors. The prefecture later decided to step up its own monitoring of seawater near the plant.
The March 11, 2011 earthquake-triggered tsunami wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant where four of its reactors suffered meltdown, sending out radiation that contaminated water and food forcing more than 150,000 residents to evacuate. Most of the evacuees are still living in makeshift shelters as decontamination work is yet to pick up even after two years of the disaster, the biggest since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.
TEPCO has been pressing the government for funds to provide compensation to the Fukushima victims which it says would be more than $50 billion.
Most of Japan's 50-odd nuclear reactors are remaining idle since the Fukushima disaster as the country's nuclear watchdog insisted stricter safety measures.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.