Japan closes 'at risk' reactor

A vulnerable Japanese nuclear power station is to be closed amid safety fears.

Operators of the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in central Japan say they have agreed to the government’s request to shut it.

The plant about 125 miles (200 kilometres) west of Tokyo is known as Japan’s “most dangerous” plant because it sits in an area where a major earthquake is expected within three decades.

Chubu Electric Power Company convened a special board meeting to decide whether to accept Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s directive to close the plant’s three reactors while the company builds new safety features.

The government reached its conclusion after evaluating the country’s 54 reactors for quake and tsunami vulnerability after the March 11 disasters that heavily damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in north-east Japan.