Latest news with #Tepco
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
High court overturns ruling against ex-Tepco executives
Tokyo High Court on Friday overturned a lower court ruling that ordered four former Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) executives to pay about ¥13 trillion in damages in total over the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture. Toshikazu Kino, presiding judge at the high court, found the executives unable to predict the tsunami that triggered the triple reactor meltdown at Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. In their lawsuit filed in March 2012, Tepco shareholders demanded that five former executives pay some ¥23 trillion in damages to the company over the nuclear accident. In July 2022, Tokyo District Court ordered former Tepco Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, who died in October last year, former President Masataka Shimizu, 80, and former executive vice presidents Ichiro Takekuro, 79, and Sakae Muto, 74, to pay a total of ¥13,321 billion in compensation to the company. The ruling said that the executives had been able to predict the tsunami. In a separate criminal trial of Katsumata, Takekuro and Muto for their alleged professional negligence resulting in death and injury over the nuclear accident, the ruling that acquitted them became final in March this year. In 2008, Tepco estimated a tsunami with a height of up to 15.7 meters, exceeding the height of the nuclear plant site, based on a long-term evaluation by a government-backed research institute that predicted that a magnitude 8-class, tsunami-causing earthquake could strike off the coast of eastern Japan. Hearings on the shareholders' lawsuit focused on the credibility of the long-term evaluation and whether the nuclear disaster could have been prevented by measures against flooding. The shareholders argued that the incident could have been avoided if a measure had been taken to prevent flooding of facilities at the nuclear plant. The former executives claimed that the long-term evaluation had no scientific credibility and that the accident could not have been avoided even if such a measure had been put in place because the size of the tsunami was very large. In its 2022 ruling, the district court acknowledged the reliability of the long-term evaluation and pointed out that the former executives neglected to instruct staff to take tsunami countermeasures even though the accident could have been avoided if they did so. The district court recognized the liability of the four former executives, excluding Akio Komori, a 72-year-old former managing executive officer, who learned of Tepco's tsunami estimate eight months before the disaster. In its Friday ruling, Kino, the high court presiding judge, said the long-term evaluation was not sufficient to obligate the former executives to instruct staff to act promptly in preparation for a possible massive tsunami.
RTHK
4 days ago
- Business
- RTHK
US$92b Fukushima damages order overturned
US$92b Fukushima damages order overturned Plaintiffs in the Fukushima case carry a banner calling for 22 trillion in damages outside the Tokyo High Court. Photo: AFP The Tokyo High Court on Friday overturned a US$92 billion damages order against four ex-bosses of the operator of the devastated Fukushima nuclear plant, Japanese media reported. The former executives had in 2022 been ordered to pay the sum, or 13.3 trillion yen, in a suit brought by shareholders over the nuclear disaster triggered by a massive tsunami in 2011 following an earthquake. Shareholders had argued the catastrophe could have been prevented if Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) bosses had listened to research and implemented preventative measures like placing an emergency power source on higher ground. But the defendants countered that the risks were unpredictable, and the studies cited were not credible. The 13.3 trillion yen damages award was believed to be the largest amount ever ordered in a civil suit in Japan. It was meant to cover Tepco's costs for dismantling reactors, compensating affected residents and cleaning up contamination. In 2015, British oil giant BP was ordered to pay US$20.8 billion for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in what was described at the time as the highest fine ever imposed on a company in US history. Jiji Press reported on Friday that the High Court had denied the tsunami was a predictable event. Footage broadcast on Japanese networks showed the plaintiffs holding a banner calling for an even higher damages order of 22 trillion yen. "Take responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear accident!" their banner said. Three of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's six reactors were operating when a massive undersea quake triggered a massive tsunami on March 11, 2011. They went into meltdown after their cooling systems failed when waves flooded backup generators, leading to the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Overall the tsunami along Japan's northeast coast left around 18,500 people dead or missing. In March, Japan's top court said it had finalised the acquittal of two former Tepco executives charged with professional negligence over the Fukushima meltdown. The decision concluded the only criminal trial to arise from the plant's 2011 accident. (AFP)
Japan Times
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Soil from Fukushima radiation decontamination to be used in Tokyo
The government said Tuesday that it will promote the reuse of soil removed during radiation decontamination work after the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture. The government said that it will reuse the soil for flower beds within the grounds of central government agencies and in the grounds of the prime minister's office in Tokyo. Through the plan, the government hopes to promote the public reuse of the soil throughout the country. "The central government will take the initiative in creating precedent cases," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a ministerial meeting on the disposal of soil removed during the decontamination process following the triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The plan is part of broader efforts to achieve final disposal of the soil outside Fukushima Prefecture by March 2045. Such soil has been used for creating farmland and filling roads in Fukushima Prefecture as test projects. The use by the central government would be the first full-scale reuse case outside of the prefecture. Plans to reuse such soil in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward and in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, fell through due to opposition from local residents. Over 14 million cubic meters of soil removed during the decontamination work is currently stored at interim facilities in the Fukushima towns of Okuma and Futaba, where the Tepco plant is located. A Japanese law stipulates that three-quarters of the soil, which has a radioactive concentration of 8,000 becquerels or less per kilogram, will be reused for public works projects, and the rest be disposed of outside the prefecture by March 2045.
Japan Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Government may reuse Fukushima soil at Prime Minister's Office
The government is considering reusing soil removed from the ground during radiation decontamination work after the 2011 nuclear reactor meltdowns in Fukushima Prefecture in the grounds of the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo, informed sources have said. The government hopes to promote public understanding over the reuse of the soil from the decontamination work in the northeastern Japan prefecture, home to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco)'s disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The move came after planned pilot projects for using the soil in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture have stalled due to opposition from local residents. The government plans to compile a basic policy on the recycling and final disposal of the soil shortly, including its use at the Prime Minister's Office. It also plans to draw up a specific road map by around this summer. Some 14 million cubic meters of the soil from the decontamination work is currently stored at interim facilities in the Fukushima towns of Okuma and Futaba, where the Tepco plant is located. Three-quarters of the soil has a radiation concentration of 8,000 becquerels per kilogram or less and will be recycled for use in public works projects. The rest will be disposed of at facilities outside Fukushima by March 2045.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Rat Infestation Disrupts UK Nuclear Plant Construction
The U.K. has ambitious nuclear power plans and is developing several small- and large-scale projects. While opposition, high costs, and other factors have slowed development in the past, EDF has been facing another problem at its Hinkley Point C construction – a rat infestation. In early April, the Unite and GMB trade unions for workers at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, in the south of England, informed the developer, French energy giant EDF, that the facility was overrun with rats. The unions said that immediate action was needed as the rodents were 'everywhere' and the rapidly expanding rat population prompted health and safety concerns for the workforce. One source reported, 'They're all over. You see them just sat there, looking at you. It is worse near the canteens, where I guess it started. But they are everywhere now.' Another source said, 'The more men working on the site, the more rubbish on the site – and the canteens are not clean either. It has just become worse over time.' The development of Hinkley Point C is expected to support the creation of 15,000 jobs. Once complete, the plant is expected to power around 6 million U.K. homes and contribute 7 percent of the country's electricity needs. It is planned to launch in the early 2030s, following several years of delays and spiralling costs. However, many believe this is an unrealistic aim. In recent months, workers have complained about poor working conditions and low pay, potentially because of EDF's financial pressures. Hundreds of project staff also went on strike in November over the inadequate security access to the site. A Hinkley Point C spokesperson said, 'As is common across all large construction sites, there will be occasions when the presence of vermin is noted. A specialist company has carried out a survey and measures are in place to address the issue. We are committed to working alongside our trades union partners to provide the best environment for all of our workers.' Even though the U.S. government has previously assured the public that the TV show The Simpsons was wrong about potential rat infestations, this is not the first time the problem has been seen in recent years. The U.S. Department of Energy published an article in 2018 aiming to debunk several nuclear myths. It stated: 'Nuclear power plants are well-maintained. The Springfield plant is notorious on the show for its safety violations. They range from rat infestations and cracked cooling towers (held together with chewing gum) to leaky pipes that spill out radioactive waste. This simply does not happen. The nuclear industry is one of the safest to work in and to live near.' However, rat problems have been seen in the past, such as during the Fukushima 2013 power cut. In March 2013, the Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) suspected that rats may have caused a short circuit in a switchboard, triggering the power cut. Tepco announced that it had found burn marks on a makeshift power switchboard and a 15 cm dead rodent nearby. The outage shut down cooling systems for four spent fuel ponds at reactors 1, 3 and 4, however cooling to the reactors was not affected. Following the incident, engineers spent around 30 hours repairing the damage. This came just two years after a giant earthquake-triggered tsunami caused meltdowns at the plant, which was in the decommissioning stage during the rodent incident. Despite the rodent infestation in the construction phase of Hinkley Point C and during the decommissioning period of Fukushima, rats are, indeed, not a common sight in nuclear power plants thanks to the enforcement of strict safety regulations. For decades the public perception of nuclear power has been negative, due to three separate nuclear disasters – Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima. However, nuclear experts have repeatedly tried to reassure the public that nuclear power is one of the safest forms of energy. The International Atomic Energy Agency says nuclear power plants are among 'the safest and most secure facilities in the world', as they are subject to strict international safety standards. The World Nuclear Organisation reminds us, 'In the 60-year history of civil nuclear power generation, with over 18,500 cumulative reactor-years across 36 countries, there have been only three significant accidents at nuclear power plants.' While these incidents stuck in the minds of people worldwide, this ratio is extremely low when compared to other forms of energy. Rigorous international standards and regulations, as well as significant improvements to nuclear technology, have helped make nuclear power one of the safest forms of clean energy production. As the public perception of nuclear energy begins to shift to more positive, and countries worldwide look for ways to support a transition away from fossil fuels to green alternatives, we can expect to see a massive nuclear renaissance in the coming years. By Felicity Bradstock for More Top Reads From this article on
