Setback to Japan’s nuclear industry

A court ordered the shutdown of Japan’s second-biggest nuclear power plant on Friday on the grounds that it was vulnerable to earthquakes, in a verdict that could have important implications for the embattled nuclear industry.

Operators of Japan’s nuclear power stations, which account for about one-third of electricity production, have been wracked by a series of scandals and accidents that have shaken public faith in the industry’s safety.

Friday’s verdict opens up a potentially important legal front against an industry operating in one of the world’s most earthquake-prone regions.

“This is a very significant verdict,” said Aileen Mioko Smith, director of Green Action. “There are some power plants in Japan that are seismically even worse than this one.”

Financial Times