IWAKUNI, YAMAGUCHI PREF. 每 A court on Thursday dismissed a petition seeking to stop the operation of the No. 3 reactor of Shikoku Electric Power＊s Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture.
※It cannot be acknowledged that there exists any concrete danger to the plaintiffs＊ lives or bodies,§ presiding Judge Akira Ogawa of the Iwakuni branch of the Yamaguchi District Court said, rejecting the petition filed by 162 residents in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and other areas, who argued that operations should be suspended due to safety concerns.
The plaintiffs are considering filing an appeal.
The main points of contention included the assumptions regarding potential earthquakes and the assessment of volcanic eruption risks posed by Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, which is located about 130 kilometers from the nuclear plant.
The residents claimed that the plant＊s proximity to a fault zone, which they believe may be active, requires a special evaluation under the new national regulatory standards. However, they said no such assessment has been carried out.
On this, Ogawa said in the ruling that, based on the results of Shikoku Electric＊s marine seismic survey, the company＊s assessment that there is no active fault in the vicinity of the plant site is ※not unreasonable.§
Regarding the residents＊ allegation that the scale of a potential major eruption at Mount Aso was underestimated, the presiding judge said that the magma beneath the mountain is not of a large scale and that ※a massive eruption is not imminent.§
Similar claims regarding the No. 3 reactor were dismissed by the Oita District Court in March 2024 and by the Hiroshima and Matsuyama district courts in March 2025. In December 2017 and January 2020, the Hiroshima High Court issued provisional orders to suspend operations at the reactor, but both were overturned on appeal.
On the latest ruling, Shikoku Electric said in a statement, ※We believe that the court has recognized our conventional position that the safety of the Ikata plant＊s No. 3 reactor has been adequately ensured.§
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.