Japan to shut nuclear plant on quake fears

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NAGOYA,May 9 (Reuters): Japan third-biggest power operator on Monday agreed to shut a nuclear plant until it can be better defended against the type of massive tsunami which in March triggered the worst atomic crisis in 25 years. Compounding public concern over an industry that supplies about 30 percent of the quake-prone country's electricity, another nuclear power operator-Japan Atomic Power-said it had plugged a tiny radiation leak at its Tsuruga plant on the west coast-the first since it started operations in 1987. It said the leak had no impact on the environment. The move to close Chubu Electric Power Co's Hamaoka plant, 200 km (120 miles) southwest of Tokyo and considered one of the quake-prone country's most at risk, follows unusually overt pressure from Prime Minister Naoto Kan. The demand for its closure signals a potential shift in energy policy after the Fukushima Daichi plant in the northeast was wrecked by a giant tsunami triggered by one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded on March 11. The company said it could restart the plant once its tsunami wall and other safety steps had been approved by the authorities.