Ricoh KR-5 light meter needle won't move, new batteries

In my case, I had the same problem, because the housing that holds the two batteries built up corrosive material. Looking at the little housing that screws out from the camera the two batteries' negative poles face away from the main camera and towards the inside of the housing. It is where the bottom battery contacted this housing where mine had packed on corrosion disabling proper contact.
I cleaned the contact points out with q20 lubricating spray on an ear-bud, and also cleaned the thread where it screws into the body of the camera. This solved the problem for me. Now I'm a happy chappy again...

About the only thing you can do is clean the batt. cover and contacts in batt holder. Make sure batts are good. No parts are avail. for this model. However this is a rugged camera and you can buy a hand held light meter inexpensive.