The plaintiffs who won the case against the Fukushima workers celebrate the outcome of the trial in Tokyo. Photo: EFE
A Japanese court on Wednesday sentenced the former directors of the Fukushima nuclear power plant operator a pay 97,000 million dollars (13.32 trillion yen) for not having avoided the disaster of 2011, as reported by the applicants.
The four former directors of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) were sentenced to pay that sum after a lawsuit brought by shareholders from the nuclear disaster that caused a huge tsunami more than a decade ago.
The plaintiffs left the Tokyo courthouse with banners reading “shareholders win” and “accountability recognized”.
Aerial view of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Photo: AP
The plaintiffs’ lawyers upheld the sentence and said it was the the largest payout ever awarded in a civil trial in Japan.
“There are risks of human error in any technology. But nuclear power plants can cause it irreparable damage to human lives and the environment“, the applicants said in a note after the sentence.
“The directors of the companies that operate these nuclear power plants have a huge responsibility, which cannot be compared to that of other companies,” they added.
For shareholders, the catastrophe could have been averted if TEPCO’s leaders had applied preventative measures.
Plaintiffs received the largest civil lawsuit award in Japan’s history. Photo: AFP
Former leaders considering that the risks could not have been foreseen.
“We still express our sincere apologies to the people of Fukushima and members of society at large for causing problems and concerns,” a TEPCO spokesperson said in a statement read to the AFP.
The spokesperson declined to comment on the ruling, including whether there would be an appeal.
Hiroyuki Kawai, shareholder attorney, called the decision “historic”.
The Fukushima nuclear power plant. Photo: AFP
“We are aware that 13 trillion yen is well beyond their ability to pay,” he told reporters, noting that plaintiffs hope that pay what your assets allow.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster
Three of the six reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant were in operation when a huge underwater earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami on March 11, 2011.
The reactors melted down after their cooling systems failed when waves flooded backup generators, triggering the worst nuclear disaster from Chernobyl, Ukraine, in April 1986.
Around 12% of the Fukushima region was declared unsafe initially, although now this situation affects only 2% of the territory. However, the population of several cities is now much smaller than it was before the accident.
In addition to the group’s shareholders, several survivors of the tragedy have sued TEPCO.
This year, six plaintiffs who they claim to have developed thyroid cancer due to radiation exposure he took the company to court.
In 2019, a court acquitted three former TEPCO officials in the only criminal trial for the disaster.
These three people are among the four sentenced to Wednesday’s sentence.
I know They faced a sentence of up to five years in prison. had they been found guilty of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, but the court ruled that they could not have predicted the extent of the tsunami that triggered the disaster.
When the lawsuit was filed in 2012, Kawai said TEPCO’s top managers were required to pay.
“They may have to sell their house. They may have to spend their retirement years in misery,” he said later. “In Japan, nothing can be solved and no progress can be made without assigning personal responsibilities,” she added.
The company is working on a lengthy process of dismantling the plant that is expected to take decades and is very expensive.
The tsunami of 2011 it left 18,500 dead and missing.
Source: AFP
Source: Clarin