JAPAN HIGH COURT NIXES GOV’T RESPONSIBILITY FOR FUKUSHIMA DISASTER

A Japanese high court ordered the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to pay damages to evacuated residents, but it overturned a lower court ruling that had also acknowledged the government's responsibility over the 2011 nuclear crisis, Kyodo News reported.

Among around 30 such lawsuits across the country, the decision of the Tokyo High Court was the first high court ruling absolving the state of responsibility, contradicting an earlier decision of the Sendai High Court in September that ordered both the state and Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. (Tepco) to pay damages.

The government's failure to instruct Tepco to take measures against tsunami "is not found to be significantly unreasonable," Presiding Judge Akira Adachi said in handing down the ruling.

The lawsuit focused on the reliability of an official long-term quake assessment made in 2002, which has been used in previous rulings to determine the liability of the state and Tepco for their failure to prevent the nuclear disaster.

Adachi noted the assessment had caused a debate since its release, and that the government was unable to predict a huge tsunami. Implementing measures such as constructing seawalls would not have prevented the tide from entering the nuclear plant, he added.

Thursday's ruling instead ordered Tepco to pay a total 119.72 million yen ($1.1 million) to 90 plaintiffs, more than triple the amount awarded in the lower court ruling.

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