A advisory panel to the Japanese government proposed on Saturday that the country should promote renewable energy and carry out renewable energy research in Fukushima Prefecture where a troubled nuclear power plant is located.
The panel also called on the government to mull over a tax hike to fund the reconstruction work after the devastating March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
Rebuilding the infrastructure, housing and other facilities destroyed in the twin disasters in March is estimated to cost Japan about 16.9 trillion yen (210 billion U.S. dollars), the Japanese Cabinet Office said Friday.
The Japanese government and the utility's operator have been battling to keep the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant crippled by the twin disasters in March under control. It is still leaking radioactive substances into environment.
