<P> Prior to the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, Japan had generated 30% of its electrical power from nuclear reactors and planned to increase that share to 40% . Nuclear energy was a national strategic priority in Japan . As of May 2018, there are 42 operable reactors in Japan . Of these, 8 reactors in 5 power plants are operating . </P> <P> Though all of Japan's nuclear reactors successfully withstood shaking from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, flooding from the ensuing tsunami caused the failure of cooling systems at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant on March 11 . Japan's first - ever nuclear emergency was declared, and 140,000 residents within 20 km (12 mi) of the plant were evacuated . A comprehensive assessment by international experts on the health risks associated with the Fukushima I nuclear power plant disaster concluded in 2013 that, for the general population inside and outside Japan, the predicted risks were low and no observable increases in cancer rates above baseline rates were anticipated . All Japan's nuclear plants were closed, or their operations suspended for safety inspections . The last of Japan's fifty reactors (Tomari - 3) went offline for maintenance on May 5, 2012, leaving Japan completely without nuclear - produced electrical power for the first time since 1970 . </P> <P> Problems in stabilizing the triple reactor meltdowns at Fukushima I nuclear plant hardened attitudes to nuclear power . In June 2011, more than 80 percent of Japanese said they were anti-nuclear and distrusted government information on radiation . By October 2011, there had been electricity shortages, but Japan survived the summer without the extensive blackouts that some had predicted . An energy white paper, approved by the Japanese Cabinet in October 2011, stated that "public confidence in safety of nuclear power was greatly damaged" by the Fukushima disaster, and called for a reduction in the nation's reliance on nuclear power . </P>

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