Japanese utility Kyushu Electric Power said Tuesday it had suspended plans to build a third reactor at one of its atomic plants after the country suffered the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Kyushu Electric, which serves the southern island of the same name, said local authorities had told it to halt the process after a massive earthquake and tsunami caused a series of explosions at a nuclear plant in the northeast.
Kyushu Electric operates two nuclear plants in Japan and was planning to build a reactor with an output capacity of 1.59 million kilowatts at the one in southern Kagoshima prefecture in 2014.
"We have suspended the legal procedures for now," said company spokesman Minoru Yasueda.
"Kagoshima's prefectural governor has told our company that the situation does not warrant us to go ahead with the process. Our company has complied with the request."
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has signaled his readiness to review the country's policy of building at least 14 nuclear reactors by 2030 to add to the 55 it already has in the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
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