Kan sorry for confusion over his planned resignation+

TOKYO, July 9 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized Saturday for triggering disarray over the timing of his planned resignation at a meeting with senior officials of his ruling Democratic Party of Japan's local chapters from across the country.
Some officials urged unity in policy within the DPJ as there is disagreement over the timing of his resignation between the prime minister and party executives, while others criticized Kan for confusion over the resumption of nuclear reactors and former reconstruction minister Ryu Matsumoto's verbal gaffes.
Kan, who heads the DPJ, reiterated that he will call it quits after parliamentary passage is secured of the second extra budget for fiscal 2011, a bill to enable the government to issue deficit-covering bonds and a bill to promote the use of renewable energy.
''I will do my utmost to do what must be done,'' Kan said, expressing his determination to tackle such immediate tasks as trying to bring under control the radiation-leaking Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
During the meeting at the DPJ's headquarters in Tokyo, the prime minister said it will take several decades before the nuclear crisis is completely resolved, a remark that likely takes into account the time required to decommission the reactors and clean contaminated soil in surrounding areas.
He also said a full-scale debate on the nation's energy policy should be conducted by reviewing the merits and risks of nuclear power.
At the same meeting, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada spoke of the need for the three bills Kan has put priority on to be passed at an early date.
Kan is aiming to secure parliamentary passage of the quake-relief supplementary budget and the two bills by the end of August, when the current Diet session ends.
An executive of the DPJ's Hokkaido chapter said the confusion over the restarting of nuclear reactors in Japan, which particularly affected the Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture, showed ''discord within the Cabinet.''
The government had said that sufficient steps had been taken to restart nuclear reactors suspended for regular checks, but on Wednesday it said additional safety assessments called ''stress tests'' will be conducted at all nuclear power plants in Japan, prompting local leaders in Saga Prefecture to retract or put off decisions to approve the planned rebooting of two reactors at the Genkai plant.
Concerning Matsumoto's high-handed remarks made last weekend during his talks with the governors of areas devastated by the March disaster which led to his resignation, an official of the DPJ's Miyagi prefectural chapter said Kan was also responsible for having appointed Matsumoto to the new ministerial post in charge of rebuilding devastated areas.
Party chapters of prefectures affected by the disaster sought the early establishment of legal provisions to help with the disposal of sludge contaminated with radioactive substances and other matters related to reconstruction.