Japanese Court Rules Against Restart of Nuclear Power Plant

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Fukui District Court in Japan ruled Wednesday against the restart of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Ohi Nuclear Power Plant, owned by Kansai Electric Power Company Limited (TSE:9503) (KEPCO) (Osaka, Japan).

In November 2012, 186 residents near Ohi Nuclear Power Plant filed suit against its operator, saying KEPCO's safety projections for the plant were too optimistic.

The Fukui District Court ruled KEPCO could not to restart the reactors, saying the company's earthquake estimates were too optimistic, and that there was a flaw in the cooling function of the nuclear reactors.

KEPCO said in a statement that it has appealed the court ruling.

All the reactors at the Ohi Nuclear Power Plant were taken off line after the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster. In June 2012, the government authorized the restart of reactors nos. 3 and 4. The citizen lawsuit was filed following the restart in August 2012. KEPCO took the plant offline last September for maintenance, and had asked for a safety review under new regulations by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) to restart the facility.

NRA Chairman Shuichi Tanaka said in a news conference that the ruling on the Ohi facility would not affect ongoing safety reviews.

Operators for 10 nuclear plants, including 17 reactors, have sought safety review inspections under the new regulations. On the same day of the ruling, the NRA decided to conduct safety reviews of reactors nos. 3 and 4 at the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant (Takahama, Fukui), also operated by KEPCO. The Fukui District Court ruling is the second case where Japanese citizens have won an anti-nuclear injunction. In 2006, The Kanazawa District Court ordered Hokuriku Electric Power Company Incorporated (Toyama, Japan) (TSE:9505) to halt the operation of the No. 2 reactor at the Shika Nuclear Power Plant (Shika, Ishikawa).

According to the report by NHK Television, there are about 30 lawsuits pending against nuclear power plants nationwide.

For related information, see March 17, 2014, article - Regulators Prioritize Japan's Sendai Nuclear Power Plant for Final Safety Review, and September 12, 2012, article - Future of Nuclear Power Plants in Japan Uncertain.

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