Jessica Scott

September 29, 2008

Initial oral proceedings have begun in a lawsuit Shizuoka Prefecture residents brought against Chubu Electric Power Company (CEPCO). Neighbors of the plant brought the suit in July 2003 in an effort to shut down four of the five nuclear reactors at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant out of concern that the reactors are not quake-resistant. Just over one year ago, the Shizuoka District Court dismissed the claim, leading to the plaintiffs appealing the decision at one of Japan's high courts.

At least one reactor expert, Hiraoke Koide of Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute, shares the residents' fears, noting that radiation released from a nuclear meltdown there could likely reach Tokyo, with its population of more than twelve and a half million. Moreover, Japanese government experts predict that there is an eighty-seven percent chance of magnitude-eight earthquake hitting Shizuoka Prefecture in the next three decades.

Japan has taken more steps than some other countries that rely on nuclear energy to provide for safety, ratifying the Convention on Nuclear Safety and allowing teams from the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect plants impacted by seismic activity. Nevertheless, with approximately a third of Japan's energy being nuclear, accidents have still plagued the country's nuclear plants. At the Hamaoka Plant itself, operation of the number one reactor has been suspended since 2001 when it suffered a burst pipe. Reactor number two has also been shut down since 2004 for a regular inspection.

Presiding Judge Kazuhiro Tomikoshi at the Tokyo High Court appears to have suggested a settlement in the September 19th first round of oral proceedings, an option for which the plaintiffs have already expressed some enthusiasm. CEPCO, however, is refusing to negotiate. Nevertheless, Judge Tomikoshi continues to support such a compromise. Experts predict that such a compromise would be extremely influential in the ongoing Japanese and international discussion of the safety of nuclear power plants.

Sources:

Megan Brynhildsen, Problems in the Nuclear Age: The 1999 Nuclear Accident in Japan, 1999 Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. L. & Pol'y 241 (2000).

Jun Hongo and Akemi Nakamura, Nuclear Doubts Spread in Wake of Niigata, Japan Times, Sept. 1, 2007, available at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070901f3.html (last visited Sept. 22, 2008).

Karen McMillan, Note, Strengthening the International Legal Framework for Nuclear Energy, 13 Geo. Int'l Envtl. L. Rev. 983 (2001).

Mainichi Japan, CEPCO Snubs Settlement Offer in Shizuoka Nuclear Reactor Shutdown Suit, Mainichi Daily News, Sept. 20, 2008, available at http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20080920p2a00m0na009000c.html (last visited Sept. 22, 2008).

Mainichi Japan, 2 Nuclear Reactors Could Be Shut Down Over Earthquake Fears, Mainichi Daily News, Sept. 2, 2008, available at http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20080902p2a00m0na012000c.html (last visited Sept. 22, 2008).

Statistics Bureau of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Japan, Statistical Handbook of Japan 2008 (2008), available at http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/index.htm (last visited Sept. 22, 2008).