Japan Court Rejects Request to Halt Restarted Onagawa N-Reactor

Sendai, Miyagi Pref., Nov. 27 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese high court upheld on Wednesday a lower court ruling rejecting a request to halt the No. 2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

On Oct. 29, the Onagawa No. 2 reactor was restarted for the first time in 13 years, becoming the first boiling water reactor to be put back online since a triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The reactors at the Fukushima plant are also boiling water reactors.

Sixteen people living within 30 kilometers of the Onagawa plant filed the lawsuit against Tohoku Electric in May 2021, claiming that an evacuation plan established for a nuclear accident at the plant's No. 2 reactor was not effective.

On Wednesday, Presiding Judge Moriharu Kurasawa said there is "no concrete proof" in the plaintiffs' claims that an incident that could not be handled under the evacuation plan would occur.

It cannot be said that the plan is insufficient to protect locals from radioactive materials that would be released in the event of a nuclear accident.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]