The Fukui Prefecture District Court of Japan decided to continue the operation of the outdated nuclear reactors of the Mikham NPP and Takaham NPP on the shores of the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
The decision was made based on the results of the consideration of the claim from local residents who complain that the reactors are about to fail and have lost resistance to strong earthquakes. “
The Chairman of the Judician College, Yasusi Kato, announced the absence of reasons why the reactors “may arise problems and threat to the security of the population.”
The reactors are brought into line with the more stringent seismic resistance standards after the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011, they are recognized as “suitable taking into account the factors characteristic of their location,” he said. “For the operation of the old installations, the necessary security measures were taken,” the judge said.
Thus, the court canceled the ban on stopping the operation of reactor No. 3 in Mikham and reactors No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Takahama.
The text of the resolution says that the reactors commissioned from 1974 to 1985 and operated by Kansai Electric Power (Kepco) may continue to operate.
In Japan, the service life of nuclear power plants is limited 40 years due to leakage at Fukushima-1 after the 2011 earthquake.
This period can be extended to 60 years if the stations have been held by new security checks by the Japanese nuclear regulation (NRA).