A Japanese power firm began switching off the country’s last working reactor, leaving it without nuclear power just over a year after the world’s worst atomic accident in a quarter of a century

A Japanese power firm began switching off the country's last working reactor, leaving it without nuclear power just over a year after the world's worst atomic accident in a quarter of a century.
  
As technicians close down the No. 3 unit at Tomari in Hokkaido, the debate over whether Japan needs nuclear power has been reignited, amid increasingly shrill warnings of summer power blackouts.
  
Hokkaido Electric Power, which runs the plant, said they started inserting control rods at 5:00 pm (0800 GMT) that would halt the chain reaction and bring the reactor to "cold shutdown" some time on Monday.
  
"Power output started declining at the No. 3 unit," said Tomohiko Shibuya, a Hokkaido Electric Power spokesman. "We have not heard of any trouble so far. Power generation there is scheduled to stop completely in about six hours."