Japan aims to phase out nuclear energy by 2040

Japan on Friday said it planned to phase out nuclear power over three decades in an apparent bow to public pressure after last year's Fukushima disaster, the worst atomic accident in a generation.

Tokyo's ambitious goal would see the nation work to cut its use of nuclear energy to zero by 2040, permanently shutting down its stable of reactors that once supplied resource-poor Japan with about one-third of its energy.

"The government will introduce every possible policy resource that would enable nuclear power generation to be at zero during the 2030s," said a government paper released Friday.

The move would bring Japan into line with Italy, Switzerland and Germany, which has said it will wean itself off nuclear power by 2022, and comes amid regular vocal protests against nuclear power.