The Fukui District Court on Wednesday ruled that it will not allow the restart of two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear plant, which is currently under safety examination by the country's top nuclear watchdog.
It is the first time since the Fukushima nuclear crisis erupted in March 2011 that a Japanese court has ordered a power supplier not to bring a nuclear plant online.
In the lawsuit, a group of 189 people from Tokyo, the plant's host prefecture of Fukui and 20 other prefectures contended that the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi plant had resumed operating in August 2012 even though their safety had not been certified.