Japan nuclear regulator puts two reactors on shortlist for restart screening

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's nuclear regulator put two reactors operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co <9508.T> on a shortlist on Thursday for a final round of checks, moving them a step closer to a restart. Japan is preparing to return its nuclear fleet online three years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station suffered the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. The government finalised a mid-term energy plan last month, which embraces nuclear power and calls for the restart of reactors deemed safe by the regulator, in the face of widespread scepticism about atomic energy. (Reporting by Mari Saito and Kentaro Hamada; Editing by Aaron Sheldrick and Paul Tait)