JAPAN: The court in Ishikawa Prefecture on Japan's west coast said the 1,358-megawatt reactor, which only began operating less than two weeks ago, posed a "significant danger" to local residents during an earthquake.
"The plaintiffs may be exposed to radiation in an accident at the plantcaused by an earthquake that is beyond the defendant's expectation," said the presiding judge, ruling in favour of a group of 135 protesters.
The plant's operator, Hokuriku Electric Power Company, said it would ignore the ruling and continue to operate. "Our safety measures are sufficient,"said a company spokesman.
Anti-nuclear campaigners hailed the ruling as a huge blow to government plans for nuclear expansion.
"The result is very significant because a Japanese court has finally recognised the basic issue of safety in nuclear power," said Atsuko Nogawa of Greenpeace Japan. "The lessons can be applied now to other even more dangerous plants."
Japan has one of the world's fastest-growing nuclear industries, with 55 plants operating and another 11 planned.
Nuclear power provides about one-third of the country's energy but Tokyo wants to meet its Kyoto Protocol commitments and reduce dependence on oil from the volatile Middle East by raising this to over 40 per cent.
The plans, however, have run into growing opposition from environmentalists and local residents who say the government is inviting catastrophe by building so many reactors in one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. The plaintiffs in the latest lawsuit argued that the Ishikawa plant was based on a 20-year-old design and would not survive a major quake.
"The government's own surveys predict that a 7.6 quake is likely to strike near the plant," said leader of the lawsuit Kenichi Doshita. "It is terribly dangerous."
Anti-nuclear campaigners are likely to use the ruling to focus attention on several other key nuclear facilities, including the Hamaoka plant which, as well as boasting two of the country's oldest reactors, sits on a particularly dangerous fault and is just 90 miles southwest of Tokyo.
Activists have argued for years that a major quake could send radioactive dust showering down on the world's largest metropolis.
Yesterday's ruling will do little to increase confidence in an industry already under fire following a series of accidents and scandals, including a deadly plant incident in 2004 that killed four workers and injured seven.
On Wednesday a fire broke out at another nuclear facility on the west coast but no radiation was released.
The industry is still reeling from its worst scandal when the government ordered a shutdown three years ago of 17 reactors run by Japan's nuclear giant, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), after it admitted concealing problems and obstructing inspections.