Japan on Monday took a step towards becoming a nuclear nation again, when councillors in a town that hosts a power station recommended reactor restarts amid fears of a looming summer electricity crunch.

All 50 of Japan's nuclear power plants have been switched off following routine maintenance checks carried out in the wake of last year's tsunami, which swamped reactors at Fukushima and sent them into meltdown.

But the town assembly of Oi, in the central prefecture of Fukui, gave the green light to the re-firing of units No. 3 and 4 at the Oi atomic power station, operated by Kansai Electric Power Co.

Mayor Shinobu Tokioka will now take the assembly's decision into account when he consults an expert panel on whether or not to approve the restart.

Under informal strictures imposed by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the governor of Fukui prefecture must also give his backing before a final decision is taken by the premier and a small group of senior ministers.

Before the Fukushima crisis, power-guzzling but resource-poor Japan relied on nuclear energy to produce a third of its electricity.

The ensuing reactor shutdowns have seen power companies bring mothballed fossil fuel plants back online in a bid to meet demand, with utilities taking huge financial hits from the cost of increased coal and oil imports.

With Japan's sticky summer on the horizon -- the peak time of year for electricity usage as air conditioning units are cranked up -- consumers and businesses are being asked to cut back on use, amid warnings that some areas could see supply fall up to 15 percent short of demand.

Kansai Electric, which booked a $3 billion loss last year due to higher fuel costs, says it would be able to meet summer demand if the two Oi reactors were brought back into operation.