UPDATE 1-Japan Jan nuclear plant usage falls to 10.3 pct

(Adds details, table)
TOKYO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The average nuclear power
plant utilisation rate at 10 Japanese utilities fell to a record
low 10.3 percent in January from 66.1 percent a year earlier, a
Reuters calculation based on monthly trade ministry data showed.

Public fears about nuclear safety after the radiation crisis
at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi plant,
the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years, have prevented
authorities from giving utilities the go-ahead to restart
reactors closed for regular maintenance.
Currently, there are three reactors online out of a total of
54, meaning only 6.4 percent of the nation's total nuclear power
capacity is in use.
The government hopes to rebuild public confidence and clear
the way to restarting reactors through newly required stress
tests to gauge their resilience against severe incidents.
It is also reviewing energy policy, which before the quake
was highly dependent on expanding nuclear capacity to lower
greenhouse gas emissions and ensure national energy security,
aiming to shape a new one by the summer.
The following is a list of nuclear power firms and the
nuclear power plant utilisation rate for January, with
year-earlier figures in parentheses.

January 2012
Company Run rate (%)
Hokkaido Electric Power Co 45.6 (63.1)
Tohoku Electric Power Co 0 (73.8)
Tokyo Electric Power Co 12.9 (54.2)
Chubu Electric Power Co 0 (4.3)
Hokuriku Electric Power Co 0 (78.7)
Kansai Electric Power Co 9.5 (81.5)
Chugoku Electric Power Co 53.7 (64.6)
Shikoku Electric Power Co 11.8 (102.3)
Kyushu Electric Power Co 0 (79.6)
Japan Atomic Power Co 0 (100.6)

(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Michael Watson)