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          Court Rules Japan's Nuclear Reactors Can Continue to Operate

   by VOA News

   A Japanese court has rejected a challenge to a lower court ruling that
   allowed the restart of two nuclear reactors.

   The Miyazaki branch of the Fukuoka High Court ruled Wednesday that the
   Number 1 and Number 2 reactors at the Sendai plant in southwestern
   Japan could remain operative.  Local residents filed suit last year to
   keep the reactors shutdown, arguing that the plant's operator, Kyushu
   Electric Power, had underestimated the threat of volcanoes and
   earthquakes.

   All of Japan's nuclear reactors were shut down in the aftermath of the
   March 2011 Fukushima disaster, which occurred when an earthquake
   triggered a massive tsunami that struck the plant and knocked out its
   cooling systems, leading to core meltdowns in three of the six
   reactors.

   It was the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl
   disaster.

   Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has advocated resuming nuclear power
   production as a key energy source for resource-poor Japan.  Sendai's
   Number 1 reactor resumed operation last August, with the Number 2 unit
   coming back online in October.

   Back in March, the Otsu District Court ordered Kansai Electric to shut
   down a nuclear reactor at its Takahama nuclear power plant, located
   west of Tokyo. The judge raised concerns about the plant's equipment
   upgrades and emergency response plans in his ruling, siding with
   residents who argued that a Fukushima-style incident posed a risk to
   Lake Biwa, a key water source for the region.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/court-rules-japan-nuclear-reactors-ca
   n-continue-to-operate/3271401.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/court-rules-japan-nuclear-reactors-can-continue-to-operate/3271401.html