A March 2016 analysis highlighting how Sankei Shimbun’s front-page reporting exposed the structural contradiction between Japan’s nuclear safety process and repeated judicial injunctions.

2016-03-10

The front page of today’s Sankei Shimbun proved that it is the most reasonable newspaper in Japan today.

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It is highly unusual for a nuclear power plant to be shut down for planned reasons other than periodic inspections. A senior executive at a major electric power company pointed out, “Nuclear plants function properly only when they are operating,” and expressed concern over the heavy burden of shutting down a reactor again after it has been stopped for an extended period.

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Kansai Electric Power Company devoted significant time and effort to restarting Units 3 and 4 of the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant. In July 2013, it applied for safety screening under the new regulatory standards introduced after the Great East Japan Earthquake. However, disagreements with the Nuclear Regulation Authority over assumptions regarding seismic motion—fundamental to earthquake countermeasures—led to prolonged deliberations. While the review was initially expected to take about six months, it ultimately took three times as long, with conformity recognized only in February of last year.

In April of last year, when approval under the new regulatory standards was expected to accelerate procedures toward restarting operations, the Fukui District Court, much like the present case, issued a provisional injunction halting the operation of Units 3 and 4, throwing the restart process into serious doubt. Ultimately, in December of last year, the Fukui District Court accepted Kansai Electric’s objection, reopening the path to restarting the reactors, which finally resumed operation in January this year—nearly four years after their shutdown.

Because the restart was achieved only after tremendous effort, the necessity of once again stopping operating reactors sent shockwaves through Kansai Electric.

A Kansai Electric executive, checking breaking news on a computer, muttered, “I never imagined we would be sent back to square one by the same judgment as one year ago.”

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