Despite the ongoing nuclear crisis, Japan will stick to nuclear power for its energy policy, a top Japanese official said Sunday.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku also said the government has no plans to halt nuclear reactors in Japan other than three at the Hamaoka power plant in the central area whose operations were requested to stop until a seawall is built and backup systems are improved.

After the March 11 magnitude 9 earthquake and massive tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in the north, the government has been reviewing the safety of the country's 54 atomic reactors. The disaster on the northeast coast triggered the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

The Hamaoka plant is a key power provider in central Japan, including nearby Aichi, home of Toyota Motor Corp. The three reactors account for more than 10 percent of the company's power supply.

In the aftermath of the March earthquake, Toyota has already cut productions worldwide due to a shortage of electricity.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that the closure request was for the "people's safety."

The Hamaoka plant, which is about 125 miles west of Tokyo, has been a major concern for years. For decades, Japanese authorities have been expecting a major quake to occur in Shizuoka prefecture, the area where the Hamaoka plant is located.

Experts estimate there is a 90 percent chance that a quake with a magnitude of 8.0 or higher will strike the region within 30 years. About 79,800 people live within a 6-mile (10-kilometer) radius of the complex.

The Hamaoka plant has a seawall about 32 to 50 feet (10 to 15 meters) high, deemed enough to defend against a tsunami around 26 feet (8 meters) high, officials said. But, the tsunami that damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant and wrecked its critical power and cooling systems was at least 46 feet (14 meters) high.

Sengoku said there is "no need to worry" about other plants in the country.#30