TOKYO — Japan said Friday that it would seek to phase out
nuclear power by 2040 — a historic shift for a country that has long staked its
future on such energy, but one that falls far short of the decisive steps the
government had promised in the wake of the world’s second-largest nuclear plant
disaster last year.
Although the long-awaited energy policy was named the
“Revolutionary Energy and Environment Strategy” by its authors, it extended the
expected transition away from nuclear power by at least a decade and includes
caveats that appear to allow some plants to operate for decades past even the
new deadline.