is it possible to install java without the browser plugin?

I need java, but I don't want any browser to be able to access it.

Is it possible to remove the whole applet/browser plugin code?

As of Java Version 7 Update 10, the Java Control Panel (in the Security tab) can disable the Java plug-in completely: http://www.java.com/en/download/help/disable_browser.xml

This should avoid the possibility that a Java upgrade might re-enable the plug-in, which might be a risk with some other approaches.

If you install the JRE; you can delete or rename npjp2.dll or libnpjp2.so (on linux); or on Linux make it non executable (chmod 0000 libnpjp2.so). This single file is the plugin file.

They're located in %ProgramFiles%\jre<x>\bin\plugin2 on Windows. On Linux, they're where ever your java is installed. You can run locate libnpjp2.so to find the location.

The same also applies to the JDK.