Top Japan court rejects 2 suits to shut down nuke plants

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Top Japan court rejects 2 suits to shut down nuke plants

TOKYO, Dec. 19 (Kyodo) -

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed two separate appeals by local 
residents seeking the shutdown of nuclear power plants in Miyagi 
Prefecture, northeastern Japan, and Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of 
Japan coast. 

Justices Toshifumi Motohara and Toshihiro Kanatani, handing down 
decisions as presiding judges, said separately at the top court's No. 
3 petty bench that the plaintiffs in the two suits have ''no reason'' 
to appeal lower court rulings against them and refused to hear 
arguments. 

They said the plaintiffs' claim that the plants violate their rights 
to personal security and a good environment are ''based on 
misunderstandings.'' 

It was the first time the nation's top court has ruled on suits 
involving nuclear power plants run by private electric power 
companies. 

Motohara handed down the ruling in the suit filed against Tohoku 
Electric Power Co. by eight local residents in Onagawa and Oshika 
towns in Miyagi Prefecture, which house two light-water reactors 
operated by the firm. 

Kanatani handled the suit filed against Hokuriku Electric Power Co. 
by 192 people, comprising people living near the company's light-
water reactor in the town of Shika in Ishikawa Prefecture and 
activists from across Japan. 

Soetsu Abe, head of the plaintiffs in the Onagawa plant case, said 
the ruling is ''unjust and hostile'' to Japanese citizens. He said 
the ruling merely follows the state policy of promoting nuclear power 
generation. 

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the Shika suit said they 
''strongly protest'' the top court's decision to dismiss the appeal 
without hearing arguments. They described Japan's nuclear policy as 
being in ''terminal condition.'' 

Shigeru Kawabe, 76, a leader of the plaintiffs in the Shika plant 
case, said he felt he had experienced the ''limitations'' of the 
current judicial structure, which he described as being ''subordinate 
to the government.'' He added that future generations will have to 
shoulder a ''negative legacy'' as a result of the ruling. 

''Only the elimination of nuclear plants would guarantee absolute 
safety. I'll continue to stress the danger of faith in science and 
technology,'' he said. 

Tohoku Electric President Toshiaki Yashima said he believes the 
company's position outlined at the lower courts was acknowledged by 
the Supreme Court. He pledged to ensure safety at the Onagawa plant. 

Fujio Shinki, president of Hokuriku Electric, said his company will 
also prioritize safety at its existing reactor as well as another one 
that is under construction at the Shika plant. 

The suit against the Onagawa plant was originally filed in 1981 and 
the one against the Shika plant in 1988. The plaintiffs, who include 
a number of antinuclear protesters, initially called for construction 
of the plants to be scrapped. 

They later sought a halt to operations at the plants as their 
construction was completed while the suits were being heard. 

The two reactors at the Onagawa plant, producing 524,000 and 825,000 
kilowatts, began commercial operations in 1984 and 1995, 
respectively. 

The 540,000-kw reactor at the Shika plant started operating in 1993. 

A focal point of the cases was whether those plants could resist 
massive earthquakes equivalent to the one which flattened the port 
city of Kobe on Jan. 17, 1995, claiming the lives of thousands. The 
courts ruled that there was no significant risk. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
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Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
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