Fukushima slows nuclear power plans

LONDON, April 6 (UPI) -- London ordered reviews of safety protocols following the nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, though officials said nuclear energy is still in the mix.

British Energy Secretary Chris Huhne ordered his nuclear energy team to review the safety of the country's nuclear power sector, causing concerns for plans to build two new nuclear power stations by 2018.

Safety regulators said they might wait until June before making a final decision on reactor designs, The Telegraph newspaper in London reports.

Japan is struggling to contain the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. A magnitude-9 earthquake struck the north of Japan March 11, damaging reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive at French nuclear energy company EDF Energy, was quoted by The Telegraph as saying caution was a sensible response to Japan but nuclear power was still on London's radar.

"To learn lessons from Japan, there will be additional check points on the way, quite rightly, but the destination is unchanged and the progress continues," he said.