Japanese court orders closure of two nuclear reactors
Source: Agence France-Presse
A Japanese court has ordered the closure of two nuclear reactors previously declared safe under strict post-Fukushima safety rules.
The order, made just days before the fifth anniversary of the atomic disaster, would bring the number of operating reactors in Japan down to two. Dozens were shut in the wake of Fukushima, the worst nuclear accident in a generation.
The ruling by the Otsu district court – the first to force the shutdown of reactors switched on under stricter safety rules adopted after the 2011 disaster – is a blow to plans by the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to bring back nuclear power.
The reactors to be closed are Kansai Electric’s No 3 and No 4 reactors at the Takahama nuclear plant, about 215 miles (350km) west of Tokyo.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/09/japanese-court-orders-closure-of-two-nuclear-reactors
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Japanese Court Orders Shutdown of Nuclear Reactors
Ruling deals a blow to Japan’s tentative push to tap nuclear power again
By Mayumi Negishi
Mach 9, 2016 4:53 a.m. ET
Residents celebrate after the Otsu District Court issued an injunction to halt two of the four nuclear reactors restarted by Japan’s utilities Photo: Associated Press
TOKYO—A Japanese court issued an injunction to halt two of the four nuclear reactors restarted by the country’s utilities, backing local residents who were worried about a repeat of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Kansai Electric Power Co. failed to show the public that its Takahama No. 3 and No. 4 reactors are safe for operation, the Otsu District Court said on Wednesday. The ruling requires an immediate halt to the No. 3 unit. The No. 4 unit, restarted just last month, had been shut down due to a coolant leak and an irregularity in electric power transmission.
The two reactors had met stricter safety standards set by Japan’s nuclear regulator in the wake of the Fukushima accident. By calling those safety standards into question, the ruling deals a blow to the country’s tentative push to tap nuclear power again after the Fukushima meltdowns forced all nuclear plants around the country offline. It also underlines the failure by both utilities and the government to address widespread distrust of nuclear power.
“Taking into consideration the plant design and emergency measures required at Fukushima, and how it was imperative to secure an outside source of power, questions persist both about quake safety standards and measures prepared in the event of tsunami or if evacuation were needed,” Judge Yoshihiko Yamamoto said in the ruling.
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