Japan nuclear ruling to show whether legal fight emboldened
The Star Online, 22 April 2015
KAGOSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - A Japanese court will rule on Wednesday on an injunction to block the restart of two more nuclear reactors, a decision that could determine whether a legal drive by citizens to prevent the reopening of the sector on safety grounds will gather steam.
Four years after a quake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima plant, leading to meltdowns and mass evacuations, the Sendai reactors have cleared most regulatory hurdles and could begin starting up as early as June.
A three-judge panel is to rule on the injunction request on the Sendai reactors at 0100 GMT. A court order preventing Kyushu Electric Power Co from operating Sendai would risk tying up the industry in legal battles for months or years.
Last week's ruling "certainly sets a precedent and it will cause some of the other governors and other courts to think twice" about nuclear, said Michael Jones, Senior Analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie,
Local residents who submitted a suit against the restart of the restart of the Sendai reactors argue the utility and regulator has underestimated the risk of nearby volcanoes and operational plans lack credible evacuation measures.
Kyushu Electric denies this and the Nuclear Regulation Authority says it sees no need to change its rules, after last week's ruling said the regulations "lack rationality."
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to reboot nuclear to help reduce high energy costs, but opponents are using the courts to block the revival of unpopular nuclear power, especially in areas where they can't get local governors or mayors to prevent a restart.
Should the injunction request be rejected, as many expect, Japan's biggest utilities still face the possibility of being forced to mothball their reactors amid mounting legal challenges, Jones said.
"It is not totally unreasonable to think that, to imagine, that the three largest utilities, Tepco, Chubu and Kansai, walk away with zero nuclear," Jones said.
Kansai Electric has four of its eleven reactors under injunction and recently announced plans to decommission two units.
Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi station, is tussling with local authorities to get another station running, Kashiwazaki Kariwa, the world's biggest.
Chubu Electric Power Co was forced to shut its Hamaoka plant because of its proximity to offshore tectonic plates and is facing legal action.
