Japan court rules against restarting Hokkaido nuclear power plant

May 31 (Nikkei) - A Japanese court on Tuesday ordered a nuclear power plant in Hokkaido to remain offline as requested by over 1,000 plaintiffs due to safety concerns, in a rare decision issued while the operator is seeking permission from authorities to restart the plant.

The Sapporo District Court ruled that Hokkaido Electric Power Co. should not resume operation of all three reactors at its Tomari nuclear plant in the suit filed in November 2011.

But the court rejected that the plant be decommissioned as requested by some 1,200 plaintiffs including local residents, in the first ruling on the scrapping of a nuclear power station.

All three reactors had been taken offline for regular inspections by May 2012 and remain idled, with Hokkaido Electric Power undergoing screening by the Nuclear Regulation Authority to restart them under tighter rules introduced after the Fukushima crisis.

In the latest in a series of similar suits filed since the nuclear crisis, the court said the power company has not provided evidence of the safety of spent nuclear fuel stored at the plant and the plant does not have adequate protection against tsunami. ...continue reading

Source: 毎日新聞

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