Tokyo (ANTARA News/AFP) - Japan plans to seek advice from the UN atomic watchdog before restarting nuclear reactors stopped as a precaution after the March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster, reports said.

New industry minister Yoshio Hachiro said he wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to assess the safety of the reactors and hoped they would be able to restart as soon as possible.

Four fifths of Japan`s 54 reactors are currently offline, either because of the quake or for routine maintenance work. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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