Mayor calls for quake-hit nuclear plant to be shut for safety concerns

A top power company official defended safety standards at an earthquake-ravaged nuclear plant in Japan today, even as the government pressed for more details about radioactive leaks.

As the showdown escalated over a long list of problems at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the world’s largest in terms of power output capacity, the mayor of nearby Kashiwazaki city ordered the facility be shut down until its safety can be confirmed.