The Fukui District Court rejected on Wednesday a suit filed by a group of residents calling for the permanent closure of Japan's only prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor.
Once deemed the linchpin of the nation's ambitious program to establish a nuclear fuel cycle, the Monju prototype reactor, located in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, has been shut down since a coolant leak and ensuing fire in December 1995 at the plant.
Presiding Judge Yoshihiko Iwata said that even after taking the sodium leak into account, "it is unlikely that an accident that releases a large amount of radioactive substances into the environment will occur (at the plant) or that the reactor poses any visible danger of infringing upon the lives or health of the plaintiffs."
The plaintiffs, led by 90-year-old Jinzo Isobe, said they will file an appeal with the Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court. Isobe runs a liquor shop near the Monju reactor.