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In "Landmark Victory", Japanese Court Orders Nuke Plant Shutdown
from the cool-it dept.
Common Dreams reports [commondreams.org]
In a historic ruling described as a "wake-up call" for both the nuclear industry and the Japanese government, a district court on [March 9] ordered the shutdown of Takahaka Nuclear Plant in western Japan--a decision that was welcomed by residents and local officials who said the plant posed health and safety risks.
The order, coming just days before the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, will bring the number of operating nuclear reactors in Japan down to two. According to news outlets, it is the first injunction issued in Japan to halt a nuclear plant that is currently operational.
The Japan Times reports [japantimes.co.jp]:
The lawsuit that sought the injunction was filed by Shiga residents who are fearful that an accident at the Takahama plant, which lies less than 30 kilometers from the northern part of Shiga Prefecture, would impact Lake Biwa, the nation's largest freshwater body and the source of water for about 14 million people in the Kansai region, including Kyoto and Osaka.
[...]Hisayo Takada, deputy program director at Greenpeace Japan, [said] [greenpeace.org]: "This is a landmark victory for people living in the shadow of shut-down reactors across Japan and a devastating blow against the nuclear industry and the policies of the Abe government. It's a clear message that nuclear power has no place in Japan's energy future."
[...]A survey publicized [the week of March 7] found that fully two-thirds of Japan's local authorities--the heads of prefectural, city, ward, town, and village governments across the island nation--think the government should reduce, if not eliminate completely, its nuclear power capacity.
[...]A report from Greenpeace [the week of March 7] warned [commondreams.org] there is "no end in sight" to the ecological fallout from the Fukushima meltdown, and that "the government's massive decontamination program will have almost no impact on reducing the ecological threat from the enormous amount of radiation" released after the disaster.
