大飯差し止め―判決「無視」は許されぬ

May 22, 2014
EDITORIAL: Court ruling on Oi nuclear plant should be accepted
大飯差し止め―判決「無視」は許されぬ

The Fukui District Court’s ruling May 21 on the Oi nuclear power plant is a sober judgment that fully reflects the lessons learned from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Both Kansai Electric Power Co., the operator of the plant, and the government cannot afford to ignore the ruling.
　東京電力福島第一原発事故の教訓を最大限にくみ取った司法判断だ。電力事業者と国は重く受け止めなければならない。

The court ordered Kansai Electric not to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors, which are currently offline for regular maintenance.
　関西電力大飯原発３、４号機（福井県おおい町）をめぐり、福井地裁が再稼働の差し止めを命じた。

The court said there was no way of knowing when an earthquake far more powerful than one the electric utility has braced for will strike.
Such an event, the court stated, could have grave consequences for residents living within a 250-kilometer radius of the plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture.
　関電側の想定をはるかに上回る地震の可能性が否定できず、少なくとも２５０キロ圏内の住民に重大な被害を及ぼす恐れがある、と判断した。

Presiding Judge Hideaki Higuchi noted that the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant forced the evacuation of 150,000 local residents, which was the catalyst for the deaths of 60 people, including hospitalized patients.
The catastrophic accident three years ago revealed “the true nature of risks inherent in nuclear power technology and the scale of damage” that a serious nuclear accident can cause, Higuchi said.
　裁判長は、福島原発事故で１５万人が避難を余儀なくされ、入院患者ら６０人の関連死があったことに言及し、「原発技術の危険性の本質と被害の大きさが明らかになった」とした。

“If the court avoided making a judgment on whether there is even a million-to-one chance of such an accident happening (at the Oi plant), it would amount to a dereliction of duty,” he added.
　そして「同様の事態を招く危険性が万が一でもあるか。裁判所がその判断を避けることは、最も重要な責務を放棄するに等しい」と述べた。

Presiding over a case involving nuclear power requires considerable expertise. In past rulings, Japanese courts tended to accept what the plant operator and the government claimed at face value.
　原発は専門性が高く、過去の訴訟で裁判所は、事業者や国の判断を追認しがちだった。

We give high marks to the Fukui District Court’s decision. It suggests that the court is taking its role as vital guardian of the law very seriouslyafter the nuclear disaster.
事故を機に、法の番人としての原点に立ち返ったと言えよう。高く評価したい。

What is especially notable about the ruling is that it is based entirely on the viewpoint of protecting the lives and livelihoods of people.
　特筆されるのは、判決が、国民の命と暮らしを守る、という観点を貫いていることだ。

Kansai Electric argued that the reactors need to be brought back online to ensure a stable supply of electricity and to cut costs.
　関電側は電力供給の安定やコスト低減を理由に、再稼働の必要性を訴えた。

But the court ruling roundly criticized the utility’s argument.
“It is legally unacceptable to discuss people’s rights concerning their very existence and economic concerns about electricity rates in the same terms,” the court said.
これに対し、判決は「人の生存そのものにかかわる権利と、電気代の高い低いを同列に論じること自体、法的に許されない」と断じた。

The ruling also rejected the argument that “suspending nuclear power generation is detrimental to the national interest because it will lead to increasing Japan’s trade deficit and drain of national wealth.”
It said, “National wealth means that people can live lives firmly rooted in rich land.”
　「原発停止は貿易赤字を増やし、国富流出につながる」という考え方についても、「豊かな国土に、国民が根を下ろして生活していることが国富だ」と一蹴した。

Kansai Electric said it will appeal the ruling. The court ruling is also certain to elicit an angry response from the business community and the local governments hosting the nuclear plant, which both had their sights set on the reactors restarting.
　関電は控訴する方針だ。再稼働を望んできた経済界や立地自治体の反発も必至だろう。

The district court’s decision is bound to be welcomed by many Japanese who have been shaken by the great suffering that residents of Fukushima Prefecture have had to endure.
しかし、福島原発事故で人々が苦しむのを目の当たりにした多くの国民には、うなずける考え方なのではないか。

After the nuclear accident, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) was established as a more independent nuclear industry watchdog. This had led to more stringent nuclear safety standards than before.
　事故後、独立性の高い原子力規制委員会が設置され、新しい規制基準が定められた。

The Abe administration has moved to reactivate idled reactors if they pass the NRA’s safety checks.
安倍政権は規制委の審査に適合した原発は積極的に再稼働させていく方針を示している。

But the court also pointed out the “limit of human ability in the face of (the great forces of) nature.”
　だが、判決は「自然の前における人間の能力の限界」を指摘した。

There are still many unsolved issues with regard to the Fukushima nuclear disaster; for example, what precisely caused the accident and why damage cut across such wide areas.
The ruling was intended as a strong warning against a head-long rush to bring reactors back online based only on limited scientific knowledge.
「福島原発事故がなぜ起き、なぜ被害が広がったか」にすら多くのなぞが残る現状で、限られた科学的知見だけを根拠に再稼働にひた走る姿勢を厳に戒めたといえる。

The operators of nuclear plants, the government and the NRA should offer clear and straightforward answers to the questions raised by the court ruling.
　事業者や国、規制委は、判決が投げかけた疑問に正面から答えるべきだ。

They should not be allowed to ignore them, banking on the possibility that a higher court may overturn the lower court’s decision.
上級審での逆転をあてに、無視を決め込むようなことは許されない。

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 22