Four former executives at the Tokyo Electric Power Company were reportedly ordered Wednesday to pay $95 billion in damages to the company for failing to stop the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown.
The Tokyo District Court determined that the former executives failed to take necessary precautions to hedge against seismic activity despite a 2002 government panel assessment warning about weaknesses against such an event, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported. The ruling in the civil case is the first time a court determined the former executives were responsible for the failure.
FEDERAL JUDGE THROWS OUT SEAN SPICER LAWSUIT OVER DISMISSAL FROM NAVY BOARD
“We understand that a ruling on the matter was handed down today, but we will refrain from answering questions on individual court cases,” a spokesperson for Tepco said, per Reuters.
A group of 48 shareholders for the company argued they bore severe losses from the 2011 meltdown, including costs for decommissioning parts of the facility and compensation for nearby residents. They had first filed suit against management in 2012.
The plaintiffs sought $160 billion from five people who were in management positions at the time. A judge determined that all five were liable but spared one executive, Akio Komori, from paying compensation because he held his position for only a year prior to the accident, the Associated Press reported.
The four former executives who were held liable were former Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, former President Masataka Shimizu, former Vice President Sakae Muto, and former Vice President Ichiro Takekuro.
Lawyers for the former executives argued that the 2002 assessment lacked credibility and that they could not have anticipated the damage from the tsunami. They also argued that even if they were aware of the risks, they did not have sufficient time to take the necessary measures.
A prior ruling in 2019 from a Tokyo district court in a criminal case concluded that three Tepco executives were not guilty of negligence and that they could not have predicted the tsunami, according to Reuters.
The case has been appealed to the Tokyo high court.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In 2011, an earthquake off the coast of Japan triggered a massive tsunami that struck Japan’s coast. The tsunami cut off power to the nuclear plant and then caused massive waves, overwhelming a sea wall surrounding the facility.
Flooding in the plant then cut off power from the emergency generators, which disabled the cooling of three nuclear reactors. This led to a nuclear meltdown that caused about 18 injuries and one death from cancer that stemmed from radiation exposure.
