A regional court cleared the way for a Japanese nuclear power plant to resume operations next year, a win for the government struggling to restart its idled reactors.
(Bloomberg) — A regional court cleared the way for a Japanese nuclear power plant to resume operations next year, a win for the government struggling to restart its idled reactors.
The Sendai District Court in northeastern Japan dismissed a case filed by local residents that sought to keep Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s Onagawa No. 2 reactor offline, NHK reported. The residents argued that the evacuation plan surrounding the reactor wasn’t adequate.
The decision is a positive development for Japan’s effort to restart reactors to curb imports of pricey fossil fuels and bolster power supplies. Safety lapses and a strict regulatory process have stopped Japan from restarting most of its nuclear reactors shut in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
Tohoku Electric shares surged as much as 7.7%, the most on an intraday basis since December. The utility plans to restart the reactor in February 2024.
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