A Japanese court on March 29 decided to allow five old nuclear reactors to continue operating at plants in central Japan, rejecting local residents' safety concerns that led to a request to suspend operations of the reactors.
The Fukui District Court has rejected an injunction to stop reactor 3 at the Mihama plant and reactors 1, 2, 3 and 4 at the Takahama plant. Both plants are located in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast and are operated by Kansai Electric Power Company.
The reactors all began commercial operations between 1974 and 1985. The Mihama No. 3 reactor, which opened in 1976, became the country's first nuclear unit to operate for more than 40 years. The Mihama No. 3 reactor was restarted in 2021, 10 years after the Fukushima No. 1 accident.
Similarly, Takahama's No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 reactors also began operating during the same period, with No. 1 and No. 2 restarted last year for the first time since the 2011 nuclear disaster.
In 2023, the Japanese government decided to enact a law allowing reactors to operate for up to 60 years or more, if fully upgraded to ensure safety.