© news.discovery.comRadiation and human exposure reached beyond critical levels in the 2011 meltdown.
The country's Nuclear Regulation Authority had approved the restart of the reactors at the Takahama plant in Fukui prefecture, but in a ruling on Tuesday judges sided with residents who had sought an injunction against the facility's operator, Kansai Electric Power (Kepco).
The residents had argued that nuclear officials had underestimated the plant's vulnerability to powerful earthquakes of the kind that triggered the Fukushima disaster. They added that the reactors did not meet proper safety standards and that evacuation contingencies were inadequate.
With the nuclear watchdog having approved the restart of the ageing Takahama reactors, as well as two other reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant in south-western Japan, anxious residents see the courts as their last chance to block the restarts.
The last of Japan's 48 functioning nuclear reactors went offline in September 2013 in response to the March 2011 Fukushima disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
Another court is to rule this month on a separate injunction brought against plans to restart the Sendai reactors. A similar ruling in that case would in effect derail Abe's campaign to reintroduce nuclear into Japan's energy mix this year. Reports say resolving the legal battles over the four reactors could take months, even years.
The three-judge panel at the Fukui district ruled that the safety of the Takahama reactors had not been secured and described the mooted restarts as "lacking in rationality", according to local media reports. The presiding judge, Hideaki Higuchi, is considered a maverick in Japan's traditionally conservative judiciary, having issued a similar ruling against separate reactor restarts in Fukui prefecture last May.
Kepco said the residents' injunction was "regrettable and utterly unacceptable" and vowed to appeal against Tuesday's decision.
Comment: Great example of profit over safety thinking. Nice to see the people win for a change!
A lawyer representing the residents hailed a "perfect victory", adding: "This is the best decision we could have expected."
Campaigners said the ruling should prompt a rethink of Japan's energy mix to include a dramatically bigger role for renewables. "This important ruling signals that the government's and the utilities' pro-nuclear agenda can be blocked," said Hisayo Takada of Greenpeace Japan.
"Highly indebted utilities are pushing the restart of their dangerous nuclear plants at any cost - even if their reactors have major safety risks and many are nearing the end of their lifetimes. The decision today is a further setback to a nuclear industry in crisis."Abe has warned that Japan must restart at least some of its reactors to support the country's economic recovery amid record imports of coal and liquefied natural gas. The business lobby has complained that firms are paying a high price for energy imports while nuclear reactors remain idle.
© www.cejournal.netNuclear power plant destruction during meltdown in 2011.
Before the ruling, nuclear industry officials had appeared optimistic that reactors would go back online in the coming months.
"This year marks the exit from zero nuclear power," Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, said at an industry event in Tokyo this week. "It is self-evident that nuclear power plants that have passed safety tests should be restarted as soon as possible."
Japan's pro-nuclear lobby insists that restarts will be critical if Japan is to honour internationally agreed commitments to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
Comment: Well now, there's a reason grounded in facts! Wouldn't want to lose face internationally...oh yeah, already did...along with poisoning the Pacific Ocean and other irreversible consequences. CO2 emissions have never been a problem. Even if it was, given a choice between CO2 and nuclear meltdown...
Environment ministry data released on Tuesday showed that Japan's CO2 emissions rose to the second-highest level on record in the year to March 2014.
Local media reports said Japan aims to reduce CO2 emissions by about 20% from 2005 levels by 2030 - a much lower target than other major developed economies. The post-Fukushima reactor closures had already forced it to slash its previous target to just a 3.8% cut from 2005 levels by 2020.
Before Fukushima, nuclear accounted for almost 30% of Japan's power generation, and there were plans to raise its share even higher with the construction of more reactors.
Despite government pressure to return to nuclear, a majority of the public has been consistent in its opposition restarts since the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi, which sent large quantities of radiation into the air and sea, and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, many of whom have yet to return home.
Comment: There are differences between acceptance of nuclear power to offset rising energy needs, nuclear power that is compromised due to degraded systems and damage causing safety concerns, and consumer nuclear power as a cover for stockpiling enriched fuel for weapons. The real question is why a country that is so prone to earthquakes (natural and manmade) would and could even consider this form of energy production! The PAC-RIM is currently very active and tectonic plates are shifting and compensating on a daily basis - not a satisfactory scenario for restarting this insanity, especially if Fukushima Daiichi's destruction was, as some suspect, a message.