CEAC-2022-08-August

News
Japan Court Holds Utility Execs Liable
for Fukushima Crisis By Mari Yamaguchi | Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — A Tokyo court on Wednesday, July 13, ordered
four former executives of the utility operating the
tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant to pay 13
trillion yen ($94 billion) to the company, holding them liable
for the 2011 disaster.
In the closely watched ruling, the Tokyo District Court said
the former chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Company
Holdings, Tsunehisa Katsumata, and three other former
executives failed to fulfil their duty to implement the utmost
safety precautions despite knowing the risks of a serious
accident in case of a major tsunami. It said they could have
prevented the disaster if they had taken available scientific
data more seriously and acted sooner.
A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami destroyed key
cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing
three reactors to melt down, spreading massive amounts of
radiation in the area and preventing tens of thousands of
residents from returning home due to contamination and
safety concerns.
A group of 48 TEPCO shareholders filed the suit in 2012
demanding that Katsumata and four others — former
TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu, former Vice Presidents
Sakae Muto and Ichiro Takekuro, and another executive,
Akio Komori, pay 22 trillion yen ($160 billion) in damages to
the company to cover its costs. It maintained that they had
neglected to heed experts’ tsunami predictions and failed to
take adequate tsunami precautions soon enough.
Presiding Judge Yoshihide Asakura said the former TEPCO executives
“fundamentally lacked safety awareness and a sense
of responsibility.” The ruling noted that TEPCO could have
prevented the disaster if it had carried out necessary construction
work to prevent the plant’s key areas from being
flooded, including making its reactor buildings watertight.
This aerial photo shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in
Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, north of Tokyo, on March 17, 2022.
(Shohei Miyano/Kyodo News via AP)
fossil fuel plants, the July 13 ruling is a warning to nuclear
operators that they may pay a price for safety negligence.
Yuichi Kaido, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the ruling “will
affect future management decisions at other utility companies
operating nuclear plants.”
Yui Kimura, one of the plaintiffs, welcomed the ruling, saying,
“An accident at a nuclear plant could cause irreversible
damage to lives and the environment. The ruling shows that
those who lack a commitment to bearing responsibility for
that should never serve in executive positions.”
The amount is the highest ever ordered in a lawsuit in Japan.
It greatly exceeded rulings that Olympus Co. pay 59.4 billion
yen ($433 million) in compensation for a coverup of losses,
and that sewing machine maker Janome Co. pay 58 billion
yen ($425 million) in damages for losses from extortion.
He said all five were liable but relieved Komori of the compensation
obligation because he was appointed to his executive
position only a year before the disaster and couldn’t
have acted even if he had tried.
The decision contrasted with a June Supreme Court ruling
that found the government not responsible for paying
compensation sought by thousands of Fukushima residents
over the loss of jobs, livelihoods and communities. It said a
tsunami of that magnitude was not foreseeable even with
the latest available expertise at the time.
As the current pro-business government of Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida calls for speedier safety checks by regulators
to promote nuclear power as a clean energy alternative to
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| Chief Engineer