By KAI NEMOTO/ Staff Writer
March 5, 2025 at 16:48 JST
Plaintiffs hold up banners stating their defeat in a lawsuit heard at Hiroshima District Court on March 5. (Jun Ueda)
HIROSHIMA—The district court here rejected a request on March 5 by plaintiffs to stop operations at the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture on the main island of Shikoku.
The Hiroshima District Court ended a nine-year lawsuit brought by 337 plaintiffs, including some who survived the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of Hiroshima, by rejecting the injunction request.
Although Hiroshima is located about 100 kilometers north of the Ikata plant, operated by Shikoku Electric Power Co., the plaintiffs argued that a serious accident would send radioactive materials spewing into the air and waters of the Seto Inland Sea that lies between Hiroshima and Ehime prefectures.
The main points of contention in the lawsuit filed in March 2016 were the safety of the Ikata plant against earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Kyushu.
During the course of the trial, atomic bomb survivors testified about what they went through after Hiroshima was leveled 80 years ago.
The Ikata nuclear plant began operations in 1977, but only the No. 3 reactor is currently operating. The other two reactors are in the process of being decommissioned.
Similar lawsuits to stop operations have been filed in other district courts in the region, but in March 2024 the Oita District Court rejected the request by plaintiffs, who appealed to the Fukuoka High Court.
High Court drops injunction against Ikata nuclear plant
March 19, 2021
Court rejects citizen lawsuit to halt Ikata No. 3 nuclear reactor
March 8, 2024
District court rejects request to halt Sendai nuke plant operations
February 21, 2025
Court rejects injunction on operations at aged nuke plant
December 20, 2022
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