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大 中 小 文字サイズ 記事を印刷 Japan court orders power supplier not to run Oi nuke plant

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140521p2g00m0dm087000c.html

22 May 2014

FUKUI, Japan (Kyodo) — The Fukui District Court ruled Wednesday that it will not allow the restart of two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi nuclear plant, now under safety examination by Japan’s top nuclear watchdog.

It is the first time since the Fukushima nuclear crisis erupted in March 2011 that a Japanese court has ordered a power supplier not to bring a nuclear plant online.

In the lawsuit, a group of 189 people from Tokyo, the plant’s host prefecture of Fukui and 20 other prefectures contended that the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi plant resumed commercial operations in August 2012 under provisional safety standards.

The court acknowledged the claim by 166 of them, who live within 250 kilometers of the Oi plant, saying, “An evacuation advisory was considered for those who live within 250 km of the Fukushima Daiichi complex at the time of the accident.”

In the ruling, Presiding Judge Hideaki Higuchi admitted the importance of nuclear plants for society, but pointed out that they are “merely a tool for generating electricity and thus inferior to people’s fundamental rights (to life).”

“It would be only natural to suspend nuclear plants if they pose specific risks of danger,” the judge said.

The August 2012 resumption of the two reactors in Oi came after all of Japan’s reactors were shut down amid strong public concern over nuclear safety in the wake of the Fukushima disaster caused by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

The two reactors at the four-unit Oi plant on the Sea of Japan coast are now offline after being suspended again in September 2013 for regular checkups.

The reactors are under examination by the Nuclear Regulation Authority to determine whether they can resume operations under Japan’s new safety standards introduced last July.

“I have nothing to say about the legal judgment,” Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, said at a press conference Wednesday in response to the court ruling. “We will just continue our examination of the Oi plant.”

None of Japan’s 48 reactors are allowed to resume operating unless they meet the new safety regulations, which for the first time oblige utilities to put in place specific countermeasures against severe accidents like reactor core meltdowns and huge tsunami — the direct cause of the Fukushima crisis.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reiterated that his government will push for the restart of nuclear reactors that have satisfied what it calls the world’s toughest regulations.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference that the government’s stance on backing the restart remains unchanged, despite the Fukui court decision.

There are 14 nuclear reactors in Fukui, the most among Japan’s 47 prefectures.

Kansai Electric Power, based in Osaka, issued a statement saying it will immediately begin procedures to appeal the ruling.

Earlier this month, the Osaka High Court turned down a similar lawsuit filed by a group of residents in the Kinki region of western Japan seeking suspension of the planned resumption of the two Oi reactors, upholding a lower court decision.

The high court said it is inappropriate for a court to prevent the resumption before the Nuclear Regulation Authority decides whether to give a nod to the reactors.

In the past, the Kanazawa District Court was the only other court to have ordered a power supplier not to operate a nuclear plant.

In 2006, the court acknowledged the plaintiffs’ argument that they could be exposed to intolerable levels of radiation in the event of an accident at the No. 2 reactor at Hokuriku Electric Power Co.’s Shika nuclear plant in Ishikawa Prefecture.

May 22, 2014 - Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized