Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan, has 'requested' (the Japanese don't do much 'ordering') that Chubu Electric Power Company shut down two of its operating reactors and not to restart a third at the Hamoaka nuclear reservation that sits on the coast in Shizuoka Prefecture 200 km south of Tokyo. The 5-unit reservation has two reactors being decommissioned along with the three operational units.
The action was taken in response to increasingly dire warnings that began in the 1970s from experts who pointed out that the nukes are sited atop the projected epicenter of the Tokai earthquake zone where an 8.4 quake occurred in 1854 and an 8+ earthquake is projected within the next 30 years at an 87% chance.
An excellent overview of the issues and projections makes it clear that another Tokai quake under these nuclear reactors could happen at any time, and that the reactors will not likely survive it.
It looks almost like the Japanese are finally beginning to question their dependence on nuclear power in light of the island nation's notable susceptibility to major earthquakes. Something one might wonder about why such questions weren't asked before so much of their post-war wealth was invested in a form of power generation they rightly should have been highly distrustful of because of what was done to them in the closing days of that war.
Given the fact that radioactive contamination from the current earthquake /tsunami-caused meltdowns at Fukushima has now spread around the world, it's a positive sign that the Japanese government chooses to suddenly pay honest attention to further nuclear dangers BEFORE they happen. It's bad enough that the country has to suffer so much death and destruction from its unfortunate location atop major tectonic plates that move relative to each other on a regular basis. Now it can be hoped that at least their future shake-ups won't pollute the whole planet.
Perhaps from this horrible and ongoing tragedy Japan will come out ahead, once again providing a great example of sober planning and concern for public welfare in the matter of development and deployment of alternative energy technologies to provide necessary power without risking everything in the event of entirely predictable natural disasters. If that turns out to be what Japan motivates itself to do in the wake of Fukushima, the world will have received something way more valuable from their example than a food and water supply contaminated with deadly radiation.