The Fukui District Court¡¯s ruling this week that it will not allow the restart of two nuclear power reactors run by Kansai Electric Power Co. challenges the Abe administration¡¯s energy policy of keeping nuclear power as a key source of the nation¡¯s electricity supply despite the safety risks that materialized in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in March 2011.

The court¡¯s Wednesday ruling was on a lawsuit filed by a group of 189 people from Tokyo, Fukui and other prefectures against the 2012 restart of two of the reactors at Kepco¡¯s Oi Nuclear Power Plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture.

The two Oi reactors ¡ª the first to have been reactivated after all of the nation¡¯s nuclear reactors were shut down following the triple meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.¡¯s Fukushima No. 1 plant ¡ª were taken offline last year for regular maintenance, leaving the nation again without nuclear power.