Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TOKYO1592
2006-03-27 09:17:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:  

LOCAL COURT ORDERS SHUTDOWN OF NUCLEAR REACTOR

Tags:  ENRG TSPL KSCA SOCI JA 
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VZCZCXRO2402
PP RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHPB
DE RUEHKO #1592/01 0860917
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 270917Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0173
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RHEBAAA/USDOE WASHDC
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 5332
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 5344
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 7968
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 8483
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 6517
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TOKYO 001592 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/J AND ISN/NESS
DOE FOR NA-23
DOE FOR NE SJOHNSON AND AFERREIRA
DOE FOR P1 RPRICE, JNAKANO, KREES
DEPT PASS TO NRC FOR FOGGIE

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG TSPL KSCA SOCI JA
SUBJECT: LOCAL COURT ORDERS SHUTDOWN OF NUCLEAR REACTOR

REF: A. 05 TOKYO 4067

B. NAGOYA 003

TOKYO 00001592 001.2 OF 003


-- Summary --

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TOKYO 001592

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/J AND ISN/NESS
DOE FOR NA-23
DOE FOR NE SJOHNSON AND AFERREIRA
DOE FOR P1 RPRICE, JNAKANO, KREES
DEPT PASS TO NRC FOR FOGGIE

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG TSPL KSCA SOCI JA
SUBJECT: LOCAL COURT ORDERS SHUTDOWN OF NUCLEAR REACTOR

REF: A. 05 TOKYO 4067

B. NAGOYA 003

TOKYO 00001592 001.2 OF 003


-- Summary --


1. (SBU) On March 24, the Kanazawa District Court ordered
the Hokuriku Electric Power Company (Rikuden) to shut down
operations at Unit Two of its Shika Nuclear Power Plant due
to safety concerns over its ability to withstand powerful
earthquakes. The court ruled that there was a real
possibility that the plaintiffs might be exposed to
radiation if there was an accident at the plant. The
operator called the ruling "unreasonable" and said it would
immediately file an appeal to a higher court. The Nuclear
and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) believes the reactor is
safe and that all safety analyses were appropriately
conducted. As a result, the GOJ sees no reason why Rikuden
should shut down the unit. Though not legally obligated to
cease operations in this case since this is a civil suit,
Rikuden will face an uphill battle to regain the support of
local citizens for operating a nuclear facility in their
backyards. End summary.

-- The Case --


2. (U) On March 24, the Kanazawa District Court ordered the
Hokuriku Electric Power Company (Rikuden) to shut down
operations at Unit Two of its Shika Nuclear Power Plant
(NPP) due to safety concerns over its ability to withstand
powerful earthquakes. A group of 135 plaintiffs from
across the country filed the suit against Rikuden in May
2005, after the operator began trial operations, arguing
that its anti-seismic design was insufficient and the
advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) design was inherently
dangerous. The suit followed up on an earlier unsuccessful
attempt to halt the construction of the new reactor. The
plaintiffs pointed to a study commissioned by the GOJ's
Earthquake Research Committee that concluded there was a
two percent chance that an earthquake with a magnitude of
7.6 or higher could occur along the 44-kilometer long
Ochigata fault, which runs near the NPP. The unit was
built to withstand a magnitude 6.5 earthquake. The
plaintiffs claimed that Unit Two was built to seismic

specifications established more than two decades earlier
and therefore posed a direct threat to their safety.


3. (U) According to press coverage, the presiding judge
said that Rikuden had not taken into consideration an
earthquake that may occur along the Ochigata Fault when
building the new reactor. In addition, the judge stated
that there was a real possibility that the plaintiffs might
be exposed to radiation if there was an accident at the
plant due to a large earthquake. The court argued that
Rikuden's estimates of potential earthquakes in the area
were too conservative. The court, however, rejected the
group's claim that the ABWR design was unsafe, citing lack
of evidence.

-- Rikuden's Response --


4. (U) Rikuden President Isao Nagahara issued a press
release later on the same day in which he called the
Kanazawa District Court's decision not to recognize the
safety of Unit Two "truly regrettable". He also said that
it was an "unreasonable ruling" and that Rikuden would
immediately file an appeal to a higher court. The
President also stated that the GOJ is currently examining
its anti-seismicity design specifications, and if there
were to be a change to those specifications, Rikuden would
ensure that the safety of its reactors would be up to par
with any new requirements. Unit Two began operations on
March 15 after successfully passing the final government
required inspections and, according to the operator, is
currently operating safely. Nagahara concluded his
statement by promising that Rikuden was sufficiently
ensuring the operational safety of the reactor, and as a
result, would continue operating it even in light of the
court decision.

TOKYO 00001592 002.2 OF 003




5. (SBU) An official at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety
Agency (NISA) explained to ESToff that the case in question
was a civil lawsuit and that the ruling did not require
immediate implementation of the order to shut down the
reactor. Had the ruling directly questioned the validity
of the national regulations themselves through an
administrative lawsuit -- as in the case of the earlier
Monju litigation -- then Rikuden would have been obliged to
shut the reactor down. Given the legal differences,
however, the official said that Rikuden could continue
operating as is.


6. (U) In its 2005 annual report, Rikuden wrote that it
places top priority on the safe and stable operation of the
Shika NPP. The operator said it was determined to
continuously improve its quality management system through
auditing and by taking into consideration the advice of an
outside experts' panel on nuclear power safety and quality.
Because the operator is convinced its plant is safe,
Rikuden has announced it will continue operating Unit Two
for the time being.

-- Government Regulators Surprised at Ruling, but not
Concerned over Safety --


7. (U) Most of the national dailies ran stories covering
the court decision, and speculated that it would send
shivers throughout the industry. The Yomiuri quoted NISA's
Director-General Kenkichi Hirose as saying "I've never
thought that a court would order the cessation of the
plant's operation." Other dailies wrote that as a result
of the decision, Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission was
scrambling to formulate new anti-seismic design regulations
by this summer.


8. (SBU) ESToff called NISA's International Affairs Office
Director Michio Hashimoto to obtain further information on
the regulator's position on the court ruling. Hashimoto
said that NISA believes the reactor is safe and that all
safety analyses were appropriately conducted. As a result,
NISA saw no reason why Rikuden should shutdown Unit Two.


9. (SBU) EST FSN also called Takuya Itoh, Staff Manager of
the Federation of Electric Power Companies' Public
Relations Department for the industry group's position on
the court ruling. Itoh said that the Federation was taking
the decision seriously. The group will continue its
efforts to ensure that all of Japan's nuclear facilities
operate safely and will work to obtain public acceptance of
the facilities. As an aside, he told EST FSN that he
personally does not feel that others in the Federation were
overly concerned about the result of the lawsuit.

-- About Shika NPP --


10. (U) The Hokuriku Electric Power Company operates the
Shika Nuclear Power Plant, which is located in Shikamachi,
Ishikawa Prefecture. It is the power company's sole
nuclear facility. Unit Two is an advanced boiling water
reactor or ABWR that began limited commercial operations on
March 15, 2006. The unit was built at a cost of 375
billion yen (USD 3.2 billion). Its projected output is
1,358MW.

-- Comment --


11. (SBU) The suit against Rikuden claiming the Shika NPP
is unsafe due to seismic concerns is not surprising, given
the many similar lawsuits that have been filed in the past.
ESToff had previously attended an anti-nuclear symposium
where civic leaders called for the immediate shutdown of
Chubu Electric's Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, where they
also argued the NPP presented a serious radiological threat
to Tokyo and surrounding areas if a massive earthquake were
to occur in the Tokai region of Japan. (For more see
Nagoya 003). What is surprising in this case, however, is
the fact that the plaintiffs won. The only previous

TOKYO 00001592 003.2 OF 003


successful suit against operating nuclear facilities was
the case brought against the Monju fast breeder reactor
several years ago. In January 2003, the Nagoya High
Court's Kanazawa Branch nullified the GOJ's May 1983
construction approval for Monju by supporting a suit filed
by 32 plaintiffs who claimed that a massive leak of sodium
coolant at the reactor resulted from shortcomings in the
government's safety assessment for the reactor prior to its
construction. On May 30, 2005, however, the Supreme Court
handed down a ruling that no unacceptable flaws or faults
existed in the original safety assessment, thus overturning
the lower court's decision. (For more see 05 Tokyo 4067).


12. (SBU) Though not legally obligated to shut down
operations in this case, Rikuden will face an uphill battle
trying to regain the support of local citizens for
operating a nuclear facility in their backyards, especially
if they are now convinced that the next big quake will
bring radiological devastation. Given the potential public
relations ramifications from the court decision, the
national government decided to act quickly in a public way
- on April 1, NISA will establish a new inspection office
to deal specifically with anti-seismic safety issues, as a
result of the ruling. End comment.

SCHIEFFER