Ex-TEPCO Execs Appeal $95-B Reward For Fukushima Meltdown

Four former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, appealed a court ruling that ordered them to pay the utility some 13 trillion yen ($95 billion) in damages for failing to prevent the tsunami-induced 2011 crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, their lawyer told Kyodo News.

Photo Insert: IAEA inspectors at the site of the meltdown

The July 13 ruling of the Tokyo District Court was the first to find former TEPCO executives liable for compensation after the combined impact of a massive earthquake and tsunami on the plant in northeastern Japan in March 2011 caused one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

Though it would be difficult for individuals to pay such a large sum of compensation, the damages of over 13 trillion yen are likely to be the largest ever awarded in a civil lawsuit in Japan. Nearly 50 shareholders had sought a total of around 22 trillion yen in damages.

The plaintiffs also filed an appeal on Wednesday demanding that damages of 22 trillion yen they are seeking should be fully recognized.

They also demand the seizure of four executives' possessions, after the district court said that process can begin even if its ruling is appealed and the trial continues at a higher court. The four executives are former Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, former President Masataka Shimizu and former vice presidents Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto.

The Tokyo District Court ruled that, despite a TEPCO unit's 2008 assessment of the plant's vulnerability to tsunamis, the utility's countermeasures for a tsunami risk "fundamentally lacked safety awareness and a sense of responsibility," judging that the executives failed to perform their duties.

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