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Asahi Shimbun
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
EDITORIAL: Ignoring TEPCO leaders' decisions on Fukushima plant an outrage
Plaintiffs and their lawyers outside the Tokyo High Court on June 6 (Masaaki Kobayashi) We cannot but doubt that the judicial branch is squarely facing up to the irreparable damage caused by the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant of Tokyo Electric Power Co. The Tokyo High Court rejected a request by TEPCO shareholders that former company executives compensate the company for the damages it incurred. The district court ruling ordered compensation of about 13 trillion yen ($90 billion) be paid, but plaintiffs lost on the appeal. Electric power companies that operate nuclear plants have an obligation to prevent a serious accident. Company executives in making management decisions are called upon to be vigilant so their company does not have to shoulder responsibility for massive compensation. However, the high court can be said to have taken the position that the responsibility of the executives will not be questioned even if no measures were taken unless there was an imminent possibility that called for halting nuclear plant operations because a huge earthquake might occur. We fear that the logic widening the range in which slack management decisions are no longer questioned will lead to a loosening of discipline regarding safety and could trigger another serious accident. While the ruling denied legal responsibility of the former executives, it also called on companies operating nuclear plants to fulfill their social and public interest duty to prevent accidents based on the latest knowledge. If such an accident were to occur, it would cause massive damage over a wide area and could lead to the collapse of the nation. The ruling pointed out that the former executives should shoulder major social responsibility because they were in a position to order measures to prevent an accident. There is dissonance in a logic that contains both aspects. The high court also included additional wording calling for consideration of moving in a direction of placing even greater responsibility on company directors in light of now having experienced an accident. But regardless of whether it was before or after an accident, there should be no change in calling for a high level of safety to prevent a serious accident from occurring at all. The accident 14 years ago caused irreversible damage to Japanese society. Many people had their quiet lives taken away and work continues to decommission nuclear reactors. The total cost of dealing with the accident has exceeded 10 trillion yen and the virtual burden on the people continues to accumulate. The committee set up by the Diet to look into the accident concluded it was a manmade disaster. But if the latest ruling is upheld, the legal responsibility of individuals well as TEPCO's negligence will not be called into question in other related lawsuits as well. It will be difficult to be convinced that the accident should be considered as only an act of God. As memory of the accident fades, the government has changed course on nuclear power and called for its maximum usage. Not only TEPCO, but all other electric power companies with nuclear plants as well as the relevant government agencies must once again embrace a sense of tension. Looking back, the major accident was the result of multiple layers of conceit and irresponsibility on the part of the electric power industry, relevant government agencies, politicians and local governments. There is a need for society as a whole to continue thinking about why the accident was not prevented, where the responsibility lies and how to take advantage of the lessons learned. --The Asahi Shimbun, June 7
Asahi Shimbun
3 days ago
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
Tokyo court ruling raises bar on tsunami foresight
Plaintiffs in a TEPCO-related lawsuit head to the Tokyo High Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on June 6. (Masaaki Kobayashi) Two diametrically opposed court rulings have been handed down concerning accountability for the 2011 nuclear disaster. How did this come about? In 2022, the Tokyo District Court ordered former executives of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. to pay the company about 13 trillion yen ($92.6 billion) in compensation for the accident in Fukushima Prefecture. But a Tokyo High Court decision on June 6 denied they were liable and rescinded the decision. The conflicting court decisions are due to differing perceptions of 'duty' required of executives of nuclear power plant operators to safeguard their facilities. The lower court's ruling found that the TEPCO management proved grossly negligent through its failure to take all possible measures for 'just in case' scenarios. It noted that a long-term assessment of earthquake forecasts released by the central government in 2002 was made by top-level researchers and, therefore, scientifically reliable. In the absence of special circumstances, 'tsunami countermeasures based on this knowledge were obligatory,' the court added. In a 636-page decision, it gave a detailed explanation for holding TEPCO's management responsible. Based on the 2002 long-term assessment, it said TEPCO could have foreseen a huge tsunami resulting from a massive offshore earthquake and prepared for the event by making the buildings and equipment watertight. But the high court, in its view of the 'duty,' contended that 'the only way to prevent the accident was to have shut down the nuclear power plant.' The nuclear power plant business is promoted as a national policy. Ensuring a stable power supply is fundamental to people's lives and economic activity. Based on this premise, the high court noted that to foresee a tsunami, it is necessary to have 'enough specificity to obligate the suspension of nuclear power plants.' On the issue of foresight, the high court set the bar extremely high. It questioned the 2002 long-term assessment, which served as the primary weapon in the plaintiffs' assertion that TEPCO's management could have foreseen the giant tsunami, saying there was no sufficient basis for the claim. The high court found that the long-term assessment was not sufficiently reliable to have obligated the management at the time to suspend the plant operations. It also stated the lack of 'a sense of urgency' on the part of the management regarding the long-term assessment was 'unavoidable.' For this reason, the issue of foresight by the former management was denied by the court. But why was it raised at the high court? Two recent decisions by the Supreme Court are believed to have had an influence. In 2022, the top court ruled in a lawsuit filed by nuclear power plant evacuees seeking compensation from the central government and other parties that 'the earthquake was bigger than expected and that the (nuclear) accident could not have been prevented even if countermeasures had been taken.' In March of this year, the Supreme Court upheld a high court ruling in a lawsuit in which two former executives were held criminally liable, stating that 'the long-term assessment was not reliable,' and acquitted them of all charges. The Supreme Court's conclusion--that the earthquake was too big to avoid an accident and the long-term evaluation was unreliable to begin with--was reflected in the high court's latest decision. The lawsuit was the last remaining avenue for the victims, who contend it is unacceptable that the former management of TEPCO should not be held responsible for the unprecedented accident. After the ruling, the plaintiffs told their supporters that the decision was 'unjust' and 'needs to be overturned.' They vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Asahi Shimbun
3 days ago
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
High court rules TEPCO execs not responsible for nuclear disaster
Hiroyuki Kawai, center, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, criticizes the ruling in front of the Tokyo High Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on June 6. (Masaaki Kobayashi) The Tokyo High Court on June 6 rescinded a court order for former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co. to pay the company about 13 trillion yen ($92.6 billion) over the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In absolving the defendants of responsibility for financial damages caused to the company, the court ruled the giant tsunami that smashed into TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on March 11, 2011, was 'unforeseeable.' The ruling overturned the Tokyo District Court's decision in 2022 to order the former TEPCO executives to pay compensation for failing to take measures that could have prevented the 'foreseeable' tsunami from causing the triple meltdown at the plant. 'This is unbelievable and unforgivable,' Yui Kimura, secretary-general of the plaintiffs' group, said of the high court's ruling. Hiroyuki Kawai, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said: 'This is an extremely unjust and logically contradictory verdict. It allows a recurrence of the nuclear accident, and we will pursue the flaws in this decision at the Supreme Court.' The plaintiffs--42 shareholders of TEPCO—had demanded 23 trillion yen in compensation to the company from five former executives and others over the damage caused by their failure to take tsunami countermeasures. The five defendants were: Tsunehisa Katsumata, a former chairman who died in 2024; Masataka Shimizu, a former president; two former vice presidents, Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto; and a former managing director, Akio Komori. Katsumata's heirs succeeded him in the lawsuit. The major issues in the lawsuit were whether TEPCO management at the time could have foreseen the occurrence of such a giant tsunami and whether they could have prevented the disaster by issuing instructions for tsunami countermeasures. In 2002, the central government released a long-term evaluation of earthquake forecasts that indicated the possibility of a major earthquake followed by a massive tsunami occurring off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture. The Tokyo District Court's ruling in 2022 noted that this long-term assessment was scientifically reliable because it was made by top-level Japanese researchers, among other things. Based on this assessment, the lower court found that TEPCO's management team could have foreseen the 2011 tsunami, and that the accident could have been prevented if the defendants had ordered the construction of a watertight structure to prevent flooding of the reactor buildings and other facilities. The tsunami knocked out power to the plant, leading to three reactors melting down and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate from the area. Based on the decommissioning and decontamination costs incurred and the amount of compensation paid to evacuees, the district court concluded that the former management had caused TEPCO more than 13 trillion yen in damages. At the appeal hearing, the defendants repeated their argument that 'the long-term assessment was unreliable, as it was criticized by seismologists and other experts.'
