About one in five big Japanese firms wants to see the share of nuclear power in the electricity supply reduced to zero by 2030, a Reuters poll showed, amid a growing anti-nuclear clamor after last year's Fukushima atomic disaster.
But underlining concerns about a rise in energy costs without atomic power, the rest of the respondents supported a continued role for nuclear energy, with the biggest group opting for a share of 15 percent.
The poll comes as Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda considers options for a medium-term energy plan while vowing to reduce reliance on atomic energy without saying by how much or when.
Energy policy has become a major headache for Noda and his Democratic Party of Japan, its ratings battered ahead of a general election likely to take place in November and give the ruling party a drubbing.
The government is considering three options for its energy portfolio: reduce nuclear power's role to zero as soon as ...