Residents file injunction against restart

May 30, 2014

Court order sought to stop reactor restart

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140530_24.html

Residents near a nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, have filed a temporary injunction with a local court to keep the facility from going online.

The Sendai nuclear plant's 2 reactors are the top priority of regulators carrying out safety checks required for restarting nuclear power plants in Japan.

23 people filed for the provisional order with the Kagoshima District Court on Friday. They demand that the plant's operator, Kyushu Electric Power Company, not restart the facility.

They say the plant drastically lacks earthquake resistance, and that a massive quake could cause radioactivity leaks.

The plaintiffs are among more than 2,200 people across the country who had already filed an injunction suit against restarting the plant after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis in 2011.

The 23 plaintiffs say they filed for the order as the regulators are prioritizing the check of the Sendai plant, and that restarting the facility could threaten the lives of nearby residents.

Kyushu Electric says it will study the content of the filing and decide what to do. The operator has been insisting that the plant is safe. It says it implemented a sufficient investigation and other measures after checking nearby underground faults.

This month, a court in Fukui, central Japan, ordered the operator of the Ohi nuclear plant not to restart 2 of its reactors, citing inadequate safety measures. The operator has appealed the ruling.

May 30, 2014 - Updated 06:13 UTC