Court Rejects Bid to Block Restart of Central Japan N-Reactors

Toyama, March 4 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Hokuriku Electric Power Co. from restarting the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at its Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan. In the lawsuit filed with Toyama District Court against the management team of Hokuriku Electric, the six plaintiffs, including shareholders of the power supplier, claimed that restarting the reactors may cause irreparable damage to the company. Presiding Judge Toshichika Yaguchi said, “We cannot go so far as to say that there is a risk of immediate damage.” The plaintiffs claimed that necessary investigations and analyses on the safety of the nuclear power plant have not been conducted and that board directors of the company have therefore breached their duty of care. On this, Yaguchi said, “By taking safety measures required under the new regulatory standards (of the Nuclear Regulation Authority), they are fulfilling their duty to prevent serious accidents (at the plant).” Regarding the claim that the January 2024 powerful earthquake mainly in the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa revealed that the current evacuation plan related to a possible accident at the plant is ineffective, the judge stated, “It can’t be denied that the temblor has raised questions about (the plan’s) effectiveness.” The nuclear power plant is in the town of Shika, located in the peninsula. “We don’t believe we should assume that the plan will be insufficient at a future point when a restart is possible,” he said, however, while noting that the management team is believed to be working to improve the plan. The judge added that it is “difficult to evaluate only short-term expenditure as damage” because nuclear power plants are designed to recover investment costs through long-time operations. The plaintiffs plan to file an appeal against the ruling. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]