According to the NHK broadcaster, three residents of an island in Yamaguchi prefecture appealed a March 2019 decision in a lower court that threw out an injunction raised after the Nuclear Regulation Authority gave the green light to resume operations at the No. 3 reactor at the Ikata nuclear power plant.
Judge Kazutake Mori ruled that SEPC had failed to assess the potential risks of the plant’s location less than 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) from an active fault line, which could trigger a volcanic eruption at Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan, located 80.8 miles from the plant, the broadcaster reported.
Operations at the No. 3 reactor at the Ikata plant continued from October 2018 up to last month, when the reactor was brought offline for inspection and maintenance, the broadcaster reported. Prior to Friday’s decision, operations were scheduled to resume in April.
