January 18, 2020
The Hiroshima High Court on January 17 reversed a lower court decision and issued a temporary injunction prohibiting Shikoku Electric Power Company from restarting No.3 reactor at its Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture.
The latest decision was made in regard to an urgent appeal lodged by three residents regarding the Yamaguchi District Court’s denial of their demand for an injunction order in 2019.
The No.3 reactor has been offline for a regular checkup. As the temporary injunction became enforceable, the No.3 reactor will not be reactivated unless the Ikata NPP operator wins a court decision to overturn the temporary order.
In reaction to the granting of the injunction order, the counsel for the three residents issued a statement stating, “It is an epoch-making decision!” In addition, one of the three appellants, Aoki Shizue, in her comment said, “I’m very happy with the court decision. I earnestly wish to achieve the decommissioning of all nuclear power plants in Japan and realize a ‘zero nuclear power’ society.”
Later on the same day in Tokyo, at the weekly Friday night protest against nuclear power generation in front of the Prime Minister’s Office, participants also welcomed the Hiroshima High Court’s decision this time.
A male participant pointed out that it is a matter of course for the court to refuse to permit the restart of the No.3 reactor because of the utility’s insufficient inspection on active faults under the Ikata NPP. He said, “The Japanese Archipelago has so many volcanos. No one can tell where active faults are located. All nuclear power plants should be decommissioned.”
Past related articles:
> Court in reversal okays restart of operations of Ikata NPP No.3 reactor [September 26, 2018]
> Ikata NPP injunction is a warning about volcanic eruption risks [December 15, 2017]
> Court rulings permitting restart of NPPs are irresponsible [April 5, 2017]
The latest decision was made in regard to an urgent appeal lodged by three residents regarding the Yamaguchi District Court’s denial of their demand for an injunction order in 2019.
The No.3 reactor has been offline for a regular checkup. As the temporary injunction became enforceable, the No.3 reactor will not be reactivated unless the Ikata NPP operator wins a court decision to overturn the temporary order.
In reaction to the granting of the injunction order, the counsel for the three residents issued a statement stating, “It is an epoch-making decision!” In addition, one of the three appellants, Aoki Shizue, in her comment said, “I’m very happy with the court decision. I earnestly wish to achieve the decommissioning of all nuclear power plants in Japan and realize a ‘zero nuclear power’ society.”
Later on the same day in Tokyo, at the weekly Friday night protest against nuclear power generation in front of the Prime Minister’s Office, participants also welcomed the Hiroshima High Court’s decision this time.
A male participant pointed out that it is a matter of course for the court to refuse to permit the restart of the No.3 reactor because of the utility’s insufficient inspection on active faults under the Ikata NPP. He said, “The Japanese Archipelago has so many volcanos. No one can tell where active faults are located. All nuclear power plants should be decommissioned.”
Past related articles:
> Court in reversal okays restart of operations of Ikata NPP No.3 reactor [September 26, 2018]
> Ikata NPP injunction is a warning about volcanic eruption risks [December 15, 2017]
> Court rulings permitting restart of NPPs are irresponsible [April 5, 2017]
