Japanese court allows 2 nuclear reactors to restart
Print Edition
A Japanese appeals court yesterday ruled that two nuclear reactors halted by a lower court order can be restarted, in a victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s energy policy.
Japan shut down all of its reactors after the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011, relying on imported fossil fuels to power its economy. Due to public opposition, only a handful have since been restarted.
But Abe has repeatedly said that resource-poor Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, needs nuclear power and has pushed to get reactors back into operation despite public anxiety.
In yesterday’s decision the Osaka High Court in western Japan struck down an injunction by a lower court that had forced the two reactors to be closed over safety concerns.
At issue were No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture, 350 kilometers west of Tokyo.
The district court in Otsu city near Fukui ordered Kansai Electric Power (KEPCO) last March to suspend their operations, spurring the utility to appeal.
KEPCO hailed the decision to cancel the injunction, saying the lower court’s move “lacked rationality.”
“Our company, while regarding safety as our priority, will seek to gain the understanding of Fukui prefecture as well as residents of host communities as we move toward restarting” the reactors, KEPCO said.
It was not immediately clear if the plaintiffs would appeal the ruling, but outside the courthouse they said that the appeal judges had failed to take into consideration the wishes of those living near the reactors.
“Unjust ruling that ignores national, regional public opinion,” read a banner they unfurled after the decision. “Judicial negligence that ignores wishes of residents,” read another.
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