A picture shows the No 3 reactor (right) at its Ikata nuclear power plant of Shikoku Electric Power in Ehime prefecture, about 700 kilometers southwest of Tokyo on Aug 12, 2016.
(JIJI PRESS / AFP)
TOKYO – Shikoku Electric Power Co Inc is free to restart the No 3 reactor at its Ikata nuclear power station after the Hiroshima District Court rejected an injunction sought by local residents, the company said on Thursday.
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The residents had said that the Ikata reactor was vulnerable to major earthquakes, but Shikoku Electric said the court accepted the company’s safety assurances.
The residents had said that the Ikata reactor was vulnerable to major earthquakes, but Shikoku Electric said the court accepted the company’s safety assurances
The 890 megawatt No 3 reactor has been shut since December 2019, first for scheduled maintenance and then because of another court case in January last year.
Last March a court ruling on the case was overturned but the restart of the reactor was pushed back again after a violation of security regulations.
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“We have not set a new schedule for the restart,” a spokesperson for Shikoku Electric said after the latest ruling, adding that the company plans to continue dialogue with local authorities and residents.
The utility’s latest earnings estimate for its current financial year to March 31 is based on an assumption that the No 3 reactor would restart in late October. Any further delay will cost the company about 3 billion yen ($26 million) a month, its spokesperson said.