Japan nuclear reactor shut off

Japan began switching off its last operating nuclear reactor yesterday for an inspection, with no date scheduled for a restart amid strong public hostility towards atomic power.

The move will leave the third largest economy in the world without atomic energy for the second time since the Fukushima nuclear crisis erupted in March 2011.

Nuclear power supplied about one-third of the resource-poor nation’s electricity before a tsunami knocked out cooling systems and sparked meltdowns at Fukushima.