Japan rejects injunction against Genkai nuclear restart

The injunction was requested by local residents.

The Saga District Court in south-western Japan has rejected a request by local residents for an injunction to block the restart of the units 3 and 4 of the Genkai nuclear power plant in the Saga prefecture, according to Enerdata.

The court upheld a decision from the governor of the Saga prefecture, who approved the restart of the two Genkai reactors in April 2017.

In January 2017, Japan's nuclear regulator Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) considered that the units meet new regulatory standards and approved their upgrade plans and the city of Genkai green-lighted the restart in March 2017.

Here's more from Enerdata:

The Genkai reactors are rated 1,127 MW each (1,180 MW gross) and were commissioned in 1994 and 1997, respectively, before being shut down after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. The units could be restarted by the end of 2017, depending on the approval of seven other municipalities within a 30-km radius of the plant. The NRA will also have to complete remaining inspections.

Five reactors are now operational in Japan, out of 42 before the Fukushima disaster in 2011: units 1 and 2 at Kyushu Electric's Sendai plant in the Kagoshima prefecture, Shikoku Electric's Ikata-3 reactor in the Ehime prefecture and units 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric's Takahama plant in Fukui. They could be followed by the restart of units 3 and 4 of Kyushu Electric's Genkai plant in the Saga prefecture and that of units 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric's Oil nuclear plant in Fukui as of late 2017.