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The Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant, below, and No. 1 plant are pictured in this aerial photo taken from a Mainichi helicopter. (Mainichi)

MATSUE, Japan (Kyodo) -- Chugoku Electric Power Co. suspended its only remaining active reactor for scheduled checkups early Friday, leaving only three of Japan's 54 commercial reactors still online.

The three active reactors -- located in Hokkaido, Niigata and Fukui prefectures -- will also be suspended by late April for mandated maintenance.

Hiroshima-based Chugoku Electric has two reactors, both at its Shimane Nuclear Power Station in Matsue City. The other reactor has been suspended for inspection. A third reactor is being built.

The utility, which will have to submit safety test results to the government, may find it hard to win local approval for rebooting the existing reactors or activating the third reactor when it is ready, in the wake of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

The utility said even without the reactors, it has enough power supply capacity for this winter, projected at 12.01 million kilowatts of electricity, against the expected maximum demand power of 10.58 million kw.

It said it plans to continue supplying electricity to Kansai Electric Power Co. Its power supply arrangement with Kyushu Electric Power Co., which started Jan. 19, will be subject to daily monitoring of demand and supply, it said.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government may be able to avoid issuing an order to restrict electricity usage next summer, even if the nation has no atomic power supply at that time, industry minister Yukio Edano said Friday.

His comments came at a time when all of Japan's 54 commercial reactors are expected to be suspended in April, unless the reactors that are currently idle for scheduled checkups become operational by then.

"Of course, if all the nuclear power plants are not operating, the demand for and supply of electricity are expected to be significantly severe," Edano told reporters. But he also said, "There is a good chance that we can get through without issuing a restriction on electricity usage."

Edano said the government has been exploring ways to avoid issuing such an order and affecting businesses.

Last summer, the government imposed rare restrictions on electricity consumption by large-lot users in eastern and northeastern Japan to cope with supply constraints caused by the country's worst nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which was triggered by the March massive earthquake and tsunami.

This winter, the government avoided issuing such an order, but has been asking for voluntary cooperation to save electricity consumption since Dec. 1 in areas excluding Okinawa prefecture.

Demand for electricity in Japan tends to rise more in the summer than in the winter.

Currently, only three of Japan's 54 commercial reactors are operating, with one suspended earlier Friday, and are slated to begin scheduled checkups by the end of April. It is not clear when the reactors would be reactivated amid heightened public concern about the safety of nuclear power.