The Sapporo District Court on Tuesday ordered a nuclear power plant in Hokkaido to remain halted in response to a request by over 1,000 plaintiffs concerned about safety, in a rare decision issued while an operator was seeking permission from authorities for a restart.
The court ruled that Hokkaido Electric Power Co. should not resume operations at all three reactors at its Tomari Nuclear Power Plant west of Sapporo. The suit was filed in November 2011.
But the court rejected that the plant be decommissioned as requested by some 1,200 plaintiffs including local residents, in the first ruling on the scrapping of a nuclear power station.