Kansai Electric appeals

May 23, 2014

Kansai Electric appeals court ruling on Ohi plant

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140522_29.html 

The operator of the Ohi nuclear power plant in central Japan has appealed a district court ruling against the restart of its 2 reactors.

Kansai Electric Power Company filed the appeal on Thursday with the Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya high court.

The appeal comes one day after the Fukui District Court ordered the utility not to restart the number 3 and 4 reactors at the plant in Fukui Prefecture. The 2 reactors were shut down for regular inspections last September. Local residents filed a suit to keep the reactors offline.

The ruling said nuclear plants require extremely high levels of safety and reliability.

It said the operator's estimate of possible earthquakes was too optimistic and the plant's cooling systems are faulty.

Kansai Electric argued in the trial that there were no safety problems.

Tetsuen Nakajima, who heads the plaintiffs' group, said he thinks it will be difficult to overturn the ruling that fully approved their arguments. But he said Kansai Electric must be aware of the challenge it faces so his group must fight resolutely again. He said he is appalled that Kansai Electric is trying to restart its reactors after the epoch-making ruling.