March 24 (Bloomberg) - The Kanazawa District Court said it ordered Hokuriku Electric Power Co. to stop operating Japan's second-largest nuclear reactor, responding to safety concerns by a group of citizens.

The utility was ordered to shut the No. 2 reactor at its Shika nuclear power plant, a court spokesman said by phone today. The 1,358-megawatt reactor, located in Ishikawa prefecture, opened on March 15.

Japan's nuclear power industry is trying to win back public support after a fatal accident at a Kansai Electric Power Co. reactor in August 2004 and a series of nuclear safety document falsification in recent years. The group of citizens filed suit against Hokuriku Electric in May 2005 to demand the shutdown, claiming the area is near a fault in the earth's crust and subject to earthquake.

Japan, one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, is located in a zone where the Eurasian, Pacific, Philippine and North American tectonic plates meet and occasionally shift, causing quakes. Quakes of magnitude 5 and more can cause considerable damage.

Hokuriku Electric confirmed it had lost a court case brought by local residents concerned about the safety of the new reactor, spokeswoman Tomiko Kouchi said by phone today. She could not confirm that the Kanazawa District Court ordered it shut.

Five workers died and six others were injured following a water pipe rupture at the No. 3 reactor of Kansai Electric's Mihama nuclear power plant. Last June, the company said it will spend about 20 billion yen ($170 million) over five years to inspect and replace reactor pipes to improve safety.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fumishige Asano in Tokyo at asano@bloomberg.net Megumi Yamanaka in Tokyo at myamanaka@bloomberg.net

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Last Updated: March 23, 2006 21:24 EST