Japan Press Weekly

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2016 March 9 - 15 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Hibakusha demand court injunction against planned restart of Ikata NPP

A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on March 11 filed a lawsuit with the Hiroshima District Court, seeking an injunction to prevent the Ikata Nuclear Power Plant in Ehime Prefecture from being put back online.

The plaintiffs are 67 people living in nine prefectures, including 18 A-bomb survivors. This is the first case that Hibakusha became involved in to block a plan to reactivate idled nuclear reactors.

With the support of the Abe administration, Shikoku Electric Power Company is trying to restart the No.3 reactor at its Ikata NPP as early as April.

Noting that the Ikata plant has many problems concerning safety and security, the petition states, “Many residents are forced to live under the constant threat of a nuclear accident.” As compensation for mental anguish caused by the threat, the plaintiffs demand that the plant operator pay each of them 10,000 yen a month until the power station is shut down.

Following the filing, the plaintiff group and its counsel held a joint news conference in Hiroshima City.

Horie So, 75, the plaintiff group leader, was exposed to radiation from the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. “Even today, over 70 years after the bombing, A-bomb survivors are suffering from serious diseases such as leukemia and malignant lymphoma. I’ll work to help remove high-level nuclear wastes produced by atomic reactors and work to pass on a clean Japan to the next generation,” he said.

Lawyer Kawai Hiroyuki said, “This lawsuit, filed in the world’s first city to have experienced an atomic bombing, would stress to the whole world that there is no difference between the use of A-bombs and a nuclear accident in terms of causing radiation-related damage.”

Past related article:
> Referendum bill on Ikata NPP rejected in local city [January 29, 2016]