Activists file lawsuit to try to stop restart of Japanese nuclear plant

Scores of Japanese citizens filed a lawsuit Monday in an effort to block the restarting of a nuclear power facility as tensions remain over atomic energy in the country a year after the Fukushima Daichi disaster.

The suit, filed at Osaka District Court by a group of 259 citizens, seeks an injunction to stop the company Kansai Electric from bringing its nuclear power plants Oi Unit 3 and 4 back online, according to Green Action, an organization that campaigns against nuclear energy in Japan.

The Kansai Electric facility in question is in the central prefecture of Fukui.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was knocked offline after the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the east coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. That resulted in a meltdown of three reactors, with radiation leaking into the air and contaminated water spilling into the sea.

While no deaths were attributed to the nuclear crisis -- the worst since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster -- more than 100,000 people remain displaced from the towns where its fallout settled.

It has left lingering unease among Japanese people about the use of nuclear power to meet the country's energy needs.

The government began safety inspections of the country's nuclear power plants.

Of Japan's 54 reactors, only two are currently operating.

Green Action also held a rally after filing the lawsuit against Kansai Electric.

Ahead of the suit, Kansai Electric declined to comment on the matter.

CNN

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