Fukushima bosses ordered to pay $97bn in damages

• Shareholders filed a lawsuit against Tepco’s executives as a result of the meltdown that in 2011.
• A Tokyo court has ordered them to pay 13 trillion yen for failing to take reasonable precautions.
• It is the greatest sum of money ever awarded in a civil case in Japan.

For failing to stop a disaster, former executives of the company that operated the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been condemned to pay 13 trillion yen (£80 billion).

Shareholders filed a lawsuit against Tepco’s executives as a result of the meltdown that occurred in 2011 and was brought on by a tsunami.

According to the court’s ruling, the executives could have avoided the accident if they had taken reasonable precautions.

Tepco expressed regret but chose not to comment on the legal dispute.

According to a statement, “We truly apologise for the enormous hardship and deep concern the catastrophe at the Tepco Holdings’ Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is causing the local community and society at large.”

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Holders of banners with the slogans “Shareholders win” and “Responsibility recognised” left the Tokyo court.

According to their attorneys, it was the greatest sum of money ever awarded in a civil case in Japan.

They admitted that the former employers’ ability to pay 13 trillion yen was “far beyond,” but they insisted that the plaintiffs expected the men to pay as much as their resources would allow.

One of the plaintiffs, Yui Kimura, stated that one nuclear power plant catastrophe causes irreparable harm to both human life and the environment.

“The executives of corporations who run such factories also have a great duty that is unmatched by other organisations,” says the author.

“I believe the court’s ruling states that no one should hold the position of executive if they lack the will or capacity to do so.”

On March 11, 2011, a large earthquake off the coast of northeastern Japan sparked a tsunami, which then caused a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

It was the worst nuclear power catastrophe since the Ukrainian Chernobyl disaster in 1986, but because much less radioactive iodine was discharged, it was thought to have less of an impact on the local population.

The disaster did not result in any fatalities, but the radiation’s long-term effects are still up for debate.

Tepco shareholders said that if managers had listened to studies and taken preventative measures, such as positioning an emergency power supply on higher ground, the 2011 tragedy may have been avoided.

The court determined the executives disregarded reliable warnings and that nuclear plant operators have “an obligation to avert serious accidents based on the latest scientific and professional engineering knowledge.”

The former employers’ compensation is meant to offset Tepco’s expenditures associated with decommissioning the reactors, compensating impacted residents, and cleaning up contamination.

Shareholders brought the civil lawsuit in 2012.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a statement that the case was supported by the “most thorough review of the evidence on the cause of the Fukushima nuclear accident.”

“If defendants are prepared to reflect on the tragic damage inflicted by the nuclear catastrophe to many inhabitants, defendants should deeply apologise to the inhabitants and obey this judgement without appealing,” it stated.

In a separate case in 2019, the Tokyo District Court ruled three Tepco officials not guilty of professional negligence after concluding that they were unable to predict the tsunami.

The Tokyo High Court is anticipated to make a decision in the matter next year after it was appealed.

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