A Japanese appeals court on Tuesday ruled that a pair of nuclear reactors halted by a lower court order can be restarted, in a victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's energy policy.

Japan shut down all of its reactors after the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011, relying on imported fossil fuels to power its economy. Due to public opposition, only a handful have since been restarted.

But Abe has repeatedly said that resource-poor Japan, the world's third-largest economy, needs nuclear power and has pushed to get reactors back into operation despite public anxiety.

In Tuesday's decision the Osaka High Court in western Japan struck down an injunction by a lower court that had forced the two reactors to be shut down over safety concerns.

At issue were the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture, some 350 kilometres (215 miles) west of Tokyo.

The district court in Otsu city near Fukui ordered Kansai Electric Power (KEPCO) in March last year to suspend their operations, spurring the utility to appeal.

KEPCO hailed the decision to cancel the injunction, saying the lower court's move "lacked rationality."

"Our company, while regarding safety as our priority, will seek to gain the understanding of Fukui prefecture as well as residents of host communities as we move toward restarting" the reactors, it said in a statement.

The government of Fukui prefecture, where the nuclear power industry is a major employer, approved the reactors' restart before the injunction, which was initiated by concerned residents of neighbouring Shiga prefecture.

But a crane accident at the Takahama plant in January prompted the prefecture to ask KEPCO for a safety review.

Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, refrained from commenting directly on the court decision, but said the government stands by its policy of promoting nuclear energy so long as reactors meet the nation's safety standards.

It was not immediately clear if the plaintiffs would appeal the ruling, but outside the courthouse they said judges failed to take into consideration the wishes of those living near the reactors.

"Unjust ruling that ignores national, regional public opinion," read a banner they unfurled after the decision.

"Judicial negligence that ignores wishes of residents," read another.

Anti-nuclear campaigners also denounced the ruling.

"While the overturning of the injunction was not wholly unexpected in the notoriously nuclear-friendly Japanese legal system, it clears the way for KEPCO to restart reactors that have serious unresolved safety issues," Kendra Ulrich of Greenpeace Japan said in a statement.

Tweet

The EIC and Nuclear AMRC sign MoU
London, UK (SPX) Mar 13, 2017
Two leading organisations within the UK's nuclear industry, the Energy Industries Council (EIC) and the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together to promote global opportunities in the nuclear industry and support UK companies to enter the sector, at a ceremony held at the Nuclear AMRC's Rotherham campus on Tue ... read more

Related Links
Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only