Japan shuts down Hamaoka n-plant over quake forecast

The Chubu Electric Co. - the plant's operator - said it had halted the last two operating reactors, No.3 and No.4, on a request from the Japanese government.

Reactors No.1 and No.2 - built in the 1970s - were shut down two years ago.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said earlier that they decided to shut down the reactors due to risk of an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 or more on the Pacific side of central Japan.
There is an 87 percent possibility that a massive earthquake will hit the area within the next 30 years, officials said.

The government has been reviewing the safety of the country's 54 nuclear reactors since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant in the north.