The Hiroshima High Court has reversed its previous decision on the unit.
The High Court of Hiroshima has overturned its previous decision regarding the 846 MWe Ikata-3 nuclear reactor and accepted an appeal by its owner Shikoku Electric, allowing it to restart the unit. The court said that safety risks associated with the nearby potential volcanic activity are groundless and the power utility announced that it would restart the reactor on 27 October 2018.
Ikata-3 was shut down in 2011 in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, resumed commercial operations again in September 2016 but has been idle since October 2017. The current suspension order was issued by the High Court in December 2017 on safety grounds, following a request from a local opposition group. It was the first case when a Japanese high court had prohibited operations at a nuclear power plant after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.