Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has made a nationwide appeal to the people of Japan to understand that two idled nuclear reactors in western Japan must be restarted to protect people's livelihoods and the economy in general.

The No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, western Japan, have remained shuttered along with all of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors, following a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in March last year battering a nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture and causing one of the world's worst- ever nuclear disasters.

But the Japanese leader stressed to the public in a nationally- broadcast press conference on Friday, that the two reactors at the Oi plant must be restarted to "protect the people's livelihoods" and to ensure the continuation of Japan as a functional society.

Summer strain

Noda's appeal to the public came at the request of Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa, who is facing increasing pressure from local authorities and members of the public in his constituency, who fear that the government's ineptitude exacerbated last year's crisis and remain unconvinced that central and local governments have fully addressed a myriad of ongoing safety concerns and problems.

While conceding that public opinion on the matter remains divided, the Japanese leader said the imminent power shortage facing the nation as power consumption is set to spike this summer, must be addressed as a matter of "national priority."

He highlighted the fact that with all of the country's power plants remaining offline -- largely due to safety concerns sparked by the monumental disaster in Fukushima -- experts believe that western areas of Japan will soon face between a 15 and 18 percent power deficit -- a level he described as "severe."

The Japanese leader went on to say that individual households, business and the economy in general would be forced to continue to pay more for its power produced by expensive, imported fossil fuels, at a time when the strength of the Japanese currency is causing these costs to balloon further.

In fact, Kansai Electric Power Co., which provides power to the Kansai region that includes Osaka Prefecture, has been urging its business and individual consumers to slash consumption by at least 15 percent compared to levels seen two years ago, with the move being supported by the central government.

Safety concerns

Energy conservation will only ever be a very short term solution however and Noda told the nation that not starting the reactors would in essence be "putting people's safety and livelihood at stake."

But experts have been quick to point out that some of the concerns being yelled by protesters outside the Prime Minister's Office as Noda tries desperately to convince a dubious public that Japan returning to nuclear power having suffered a horrendous accident just over a year ago is in the nation's best interest, ring true.

Those opposing the move have been quick to point out that while Kansai Electric Power Co.'s new post-inspection safety plans for the two reactors in question do address some fundamental measures to ensure that its primary and defensive cooling functions would remain operable, even if the plant was hit by an earthquake- triggered tsunami the size and ferocity of that which knocked out the cooling functions at the Fukushima plant, causing its reactors to meltdown, more than 30 percent of the plant's necessary upgrades have yet to be completed.

"Fully upgrading the nuclear plants that have been taken offline to new domestic and international standards will take time. So it's no wonder people are nervous about these reactors being fired up again so soon after such a huge nuclear disaster," said Sean Toczko, an expert from Japan's Marine Science & Technology Institute.

"It could take until 2015 or longer until technologies to lessen radiation leaks in the event of an accident are in place, next-generation anti-tsunami defenses are operational and on-site anti-radiation crisis centers are workable. From this point of view, the Oi plant is far from ready to handle a Fukushima-type crisis," he said.