nuke

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Court orders shutdown of nuclear reactor

The Kanazawa District Court on March 24 ordered Hokuriku Electric Power Co. to shut down the No.2 reactor at its Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa Prefecture on the grounds that it is prone to damage from earthquakes.

The nuclear reactor had started commercial operation on March 15, and the ruling is the first to order the shutdown of a reactor. Hokuriku Electric says it will appeal to a higher court and that the reactor will continue to operate.

The lawsuit was filed by 135 plaintiffs from 16 prefectures (including Tokyo) calling for the reactor operation to be suspended.

On the No.2 reactor's quake-resistant designs, the presiding judge pointed out that there are potential dangers of earthquakes of higher magnitude than the defendant's estimate. He said that the "multiple safety-proof system will not operate effectively" in that event, and ordered the reactor shutdown. The present guidelines for antiseismic designs were drawn up by the Nuclear Safety Commission in 1981. Earthquakes in the more than twenty years since then have shown that the present quake-resistant standards for nuclear reactors lack scientific viability.

Stating that operating the nuclear reactor is unacceptable unless drastic antiseismic measures are taken. the district court judgment ordering suspension of the nuclear reactor operation is a strong warning to all nuclear power plant operators in Japan.
- Akahata, March 25, 2006