The Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court on Monday began hearing an appeal by residents to permanently shut down the Monju prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor.

The plaintiffs, all residents of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, are demanding the court overturn a March ruling by the Fukui District Court rejecting their call to close the reactor, which leaked coolant in December 1995, sparking a fire.

The state and the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, the reactor's operator, began a safety assessment earlier this month to restart it.

The Monju plant has been shut since the 1995 accident.