Two Takahama nuclear reactors in Japan will have to be shut down after the Otsu District Court issued a provisional injunction on Wednesday, two days before the fifth anniversary of one of the country's worst nuclear accidents.
The court told Kansai Electric Power Co. to shut down the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at its Takahama facility in
Fukui Prefecture, according to the Japan Times. The company had restarted the No. 3 reactor in January, but the restart on No. 4 had been delayed because of technical problems.
A magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck eastern Japan on March 11, 2011, sparking a deadly 50-foot tsunami that damaged three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, with their cores largely melting down in
three days, according to the World Nuclear Association. The incident caused high radioactive releases over four to six days.
"This is a huge victory for the safety of children, people with disabilities, and the society and economy of not only the Fukui-Kansai region of Japan but the entire country," Aileen Mioko Smith, of the Kyoto anti-nuclear group Green Action, said to the Japan Times.
Kansai Electric told Agence France-Presse that it would appeal the court's ruling, calling it "extremely regrettable."
"This court order is not something the company can accept," the power company said in a statement.
A judge said in the ruling that Kansai Electric had not fully detailed how it had upgraded safety features at the two reactors under the new safety standards, according to AFP. The judge added that the company needed to go further in explaining its measures to deal with power loss or how to carry out evacuation plans in case of an accident or a tsunami.
The Japan Times stated that the court ruling is the first test of new safety measures put in place after the 2011 Fukushima meltdown. The Takahama plant is less than 20 miles from the northern part of Shiga Prefecture and the nation's largest body of freshwater for residents in the Kansai region.
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