A Japanese court has rejected the request of thousands of residents to suspend operations of two reactors at a nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan.

The power complex is located near a number of active volcanoes and an active fault but the court said there is no specific risk of a severe accident caused by a natural disaster.

In the lawsuit at the Kagoshima District Court, plaintiffs totaling around 3,000 claimed a catastrophic volcanic eruption or an earthquake could hit the No. 1-2 units at Kyushu Electric Power Co's Sendai nuclear power plant, currently online.

The decision comes as the central government pushes nuclear power so the country can rely less on fossil fuels to achieve decarbonization goals, despite safety concerns raised by the Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

"Our statements have been accepted by the court. We will continue to take all possible measures to ensure safety," Kyushu Electric said. The utility has argued it is taking various measures so it is prepared to respond to a natural disaster.

The plaintiffs are set to appeal the ruling to a higher court, their lawyers said Friday.

In 2014, the No. 1 and No. 2 units at the Sendai plant, both around 40 years old, became the first to clear stricter post-Fukushima safety regulations and were restarted the following year.

The Sendai complex is located about 50 kilometers from frequently erupting Mount Sakurajima and is in relatively close proximity to several other active volcanoes.

A slew of lawsuits have been filed against the Sendai reactors. In 2019, the Fukuoka District Court dismissed a request by residents to nullify the regulator's permission for installing the reactors, while the Kagoshima District Court also rejected in 2015 an injunction request to halt the units.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's cabinet approved Monday a new energy plan that said nuclear power will account for about 20 percent of Japan's total energy output in fiscal 2040, a target that requires the country to reboot nearly all of the more than 30 reactors nationwide.