Japan Press Weekly

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2022 July 13 - 19 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Ex-TEPCO executives ordered to pay over \13 trillion yen in damages for Fukushima nuclear accident

In a derivative suit filed by 38 shareholders of Tokyo Electric Power Company against five former company executives, the Tokyo District Court on July 13 ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered four defendants, including ex-TEPCO chairman Katsumata Tsunehisa, to pay the company over 13 trillion yen in compensation which includes the payment of 7.8 trillion yen to victims of the Fukushima nuclear accident.

In the lawsuit, the 38 plaintiffs argued that the five former executives’ negligence in taking tsunami-resistant measures inflicted on the company a financial loss of 22 trillion yen caused by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdowns.

Lawyer Kawai Hiroyuki, member of the plaintiffs’ legal team, said, “After 10 years of struggle, we won the court recognition that the former TEPCO executives are responsible for the Fukushima nuclear accident.” Noting that the amount in damages which the ex-TEPCO management has to pay hit an all-time high, Kawai said, “This indicates that the court ruling admonishes those who engage in nuclear power generation not to cause a nuclear accident again.”

Another legal team member Kaido Yuichi evaluated the court ruling as epoch-making and pointed out that the district court delivered its criticism to the Fukushima nuclear power plant operator by saying that despite being aware of the risk of tsunami-triggered flooding, the utility had said nothing to the government about the risk.

One of the 38 plaintiffs, Kimura Yui, the secretary general of the plaintiffs’ group, said, “The court ruling underscored the serious responsibility of TEPCO executives for operating nuclear power plants and criticized the defendants for lacking safety consciousness.” She welcomed the court ruling recognizing that the former TEPCO officials failed to fulfill their social responsibilities.