The Sendai District Court handed down a ruling on the 2th in a court case in which residents in the vicinity sought an injunction to stop the operation of Unit 24 of Tohoku Electric Power's Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in Miyagi Prefecture, arguing that the evacuation plan prepared by the local government in case of a serious accident was inadequate. This is the first time that a trial has been held in which the pros and cons of operating a nuclear power plant have been questioned by focusing only on the evacuation plan, and the decision is attracting attention.
Unit 2 of Tohoku Electric Power's Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant is scheduled to restart in February next year, the first nuclear power plant in the disaster-stricken area of Tohoku to restart after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Seventeen residents of Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, filed a lawsuit in the Sendai District Court seeking an injunction against the operation of the nuclear power plant, arguing that the evacuation plan prepared by the city in case of a serious accident and involving the prefecture was "ineffective due to deficiencies such as the inability to promptly open a radiation dose testing site."
In many such cases, the main issue is the safety of the nuclear power plant itself, but this is the first time that the plaintiffs' argument has been limited to "inadequacy of the evacuation plan," and it is disputed whether this is grounds for injunction.
In the lawsuit, Tohoku Electric Power Co. asked that the evacuation plan be constantly reviewed, and that the plaintiffs did not prove the specific risk of a serious accident occurring as a prerequisite for evacuation.
The verdict will be handed down at 2 a.m. on the 17th, and it will be interesting to see how the court decides on the evacuation plan.
What is Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant?
The Tohoku Electric Power Company's Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant located in Ishinomaki City and Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture, has Units 1 to 3.
Like TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, both are so-called "boiling water reactors" that generate electricity by turning turbines with boiling steam.
Unit 1 was in commercial operation at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and a large tremor caused a fire to occur in the building.
Cooling of the reactor was maintained.
After that, Tohoku Electric Power decided to decommission the reactor in October 2018 due to technical restrictions on installing additional safety equipment.
Unit 10, which was the subject of this trial, was under regular inspection when the earthquake struck, and it automatically stopped due to a large tremor.
The ensuing tsunami flooded the basement of the building. Cooling of the reactor was maintained.
In December 2, Tohoku Electric Power applied for a national review for the restart of Unit 2013, which was passed in February 12.
Furthermore, in November of that year, Governor Murai of Miyagi Prefecture announced his consent to restart the plant.
In addition, the Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan examined and approved whether the prediction of the largest tsunami was appropriate, and in February approved changes to the "Safety Regulations" that stipulate a safety management system to prevent accidents.
Tohoku Electric Power has received all the necessary government permits and approvals to restart the plant, and will complete the construction of safety measures such as seawalls to prevent tsunamis by November with the aim of restarting the plant in February next year.
On the other hand, Unit 2 was in commercial operation at the time of the earthquake and automatically stopped due to the large shaking of the earthquake. The cooling of the reactor was maintained and remained safe.
Tohoku Electric Power plans to restart Unit 2020 in the future, but there is no specific outlook.
The contents of the evacuation plan are
Local governments within a radius of about 30 kilometers from the nuclear power plant are obliged to formulate evacuation plans in case of a nuclear power plant accident, and evacuation plans have been formulated in seven cities and towns in Miyagi Prefecture within the range of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant.
According to the plan, in the event of a serious accident at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, some 7,5 residents of Onagawa Town and Ishinomaki City, which are within 1100 kilometers of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, will evacuate to the surrounding cities of Osaki and Kurihara before radioactive materials are released outside.
In addition, more than 5,30 residents of seven cities and towns living within a 7 to 19 km radius will be evacuated in stages according to the radiation dose after radioactive materials are released outside.
Until then, they will evacuate indoors first, and then start evacuation when an evacuation order is issued.
In principle, evacuation is carried out by private car, and residents who have difficulty evacuating by private car, such as the elderly, are supposed to gather at a temporary gathering place and evacuate by bus provided by the prefecture.
In addition, it is necessary to check whether radioactive substances are adhering to up to 7000 "inspection sites" that are set up in pre-designated public facilities about 30 kilometers from the nuclear power plant, and if the radiation dose exceeds the standard value during the inspection, decontamination will be carried out.
If there are no problems there, residents will go to the "evacuation center reception station", be assigned an evacuation center, and head there.
Regarding emergency responses, including such evacuation plans, the Onagawa Regional Nuclear Disaster Prevention Council, in which the Cabinet Office, Miyagi Prefecture, and others participate, and Tohoku Electric Power is involved as an observer, discussed the contents and confirmed in March 21 that they are concrete and reasonable. Based on the results, the government's Nuclear Disaster Prevention Council approved it in June 2020.
The points at issue in the trial are:
In this case, the plaintiffs have narrowed down the reason for seeking an injunction to stop the operation of the nuclear power plant to "inadequacy of the evacuation plan."
In many cases of lawsuits filed nationwide over the suspension of the operation of nuclear power plants, the focus is on the safety of the nuclear power plant itself, and according to the plaintiffs, this is the first time that they have fought only with an evacuation plan.
The plaintiffs cited the ability to limit the plan to evacuation plans as being able to avoid scientific controversy and the ability to judge deficiencies in the plan based on residents' common sense.
For this reason, the first question in the court case is whether it is possible to seek an injunction to stop the operation of the nuclear power plant solely on the basis of the inadequacy of the evacuation plan. Next, the point of contention was whether the evacuation plan for the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant was inadequate, if so.
Regarding the first issue, the plaintiffs argued that an injunction on the nuclear power plant should be granted if the evacuation plan is insufficient, stating that "lessons have not been learned despite the confusion and many casualties caused by the accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and that the moral rights, which are the rights that should be protected, such as the lives of residents, are violated."
In response, Tohoku Electric Power argued that it could not seek an injunction on the grounds that "the plaintiffs have not substantiated the specific risk of an accident in which radioactive materials that are a prerequisite for evacuation may occur."
Next, regarding the evacuation plan at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, the plaintiffs claim that it lacks effectiveness, such as the establishment of inspection sites to check for radioactive materials and the lack of specific plans for securing buses for the elderly and others to evacuate.
In response, Tohoku Electric Power Co. asserts, "Evacuation plans have already been formulated by each local government, and the Onagawa Regional Nuclear Disaster Prevention Council has confirmed that the contents are concrete and reasonable, and the national government has approved them.