Japan Court Nixes Fukushima Damages Order Against Former TEPCO Executives

A Japanese high court on Friday overturned a ruling that had ordered former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) to pay damages to the utility for failing to prevent the 2011 crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Mainichi Japan reported.

The lower court initially found the four former executives liable for failing to act on tsunami warnings. I Photo: Digital Globe Wiki

The Tokyo High Court’s decision came after a district court in July 2022 ordered the former executives to pay around 13 trillion yen ($90 billion) in compensation. Both the defendants and shareholders who had sought damages appealed the ruling.

The lower court had found the four former executives liable for failing to act on tsunami warnings, which contributed to one of the worst nuclear disasters in history after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan in March 2011.

The focal point of the appeal was whether management’s decisions regarding tsunami countermeasures were appropriate, after a TEPCO unit in 2008 estimated that a tsunami up to 15.7 meters high could strike the plant—based on the government's long-term earthquake assessment published in 2002.

The district court had held the late former Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, former President Masataka Shimizu, and former Vice Presidents Sakae Muto and Ichiro Takekuro liable for damages.

Katsumata’s lawsuit was continued by his heir. The acquittals of Muto and Takekuro in a related criminal case were finalized in March. Charges against Katsumata were dismissed following his death in October.