14 Jun (NucNet): The Saga District Court in Japan has turned down a request by anti-nuclear activists for a temporary injunction against the planned restarts of the Genkai-3 and -4 nuclear power plant units, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (Jaif) said in a statement. According to the statement, the court justified its decision by saying the two units “are not lacking in terms of safety” and no problems could be found in measures established against severe accidents under new regulatory standards introduced after the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident. Jaif said 230 local anti-nuclear activists had filed an injunction request with the district court against the restarts over alleged deficiencies in seismic safety standards at the two plants. In January 2017, Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority confirmed that Genkai-3 and -4 are compatible with post-Fukushima regulatory standards. In April 2017, the governor of Saga Prefecture also gave the green light for restarting the two plants. Genkai-3 and -4 are both 1,127-MW pressurised water reactor units owned and operated by Kyushu Electric Power Company. Unit 3 was shut down for an annual outage in December 2010 and Unit 4 in December 2011. The units were not restarted following a nationwide nuclear shutdown after the Fukushima-Daiichi accident.
