Japan Top Court Rules State Not Liable For Fukushima Disaster

The Supreme Court of Japan dismissed claims that the government should pay damages in cases involving approximately 3,700 people whose lives were seriously impacted by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, absolving the government of responsibility for the crisis that resulted in mass evacuations, Mainichi Japan reported.

Photo Insert: An IAEA inspection of the site

The decision by the Supreme Court's Second Petty Bench was the first for the high court and covered four lawsuits filed in the prefectures of Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, and Ehime.

Around 30 such lawsuits have been filed across Japan by people who were forced to evacuate their homes or whose lives were significantly impacted by the earthquake and tsunami.

The ruling holds Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO), the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, solely responsible for the four lawsuits' damages totaling slightly more than 1.4 billion yen ($10.5 million).

The court ruled that the government "was highly unlikely to have been able to prevent the flooding" of the plant, even if it had exercised its regulatory powers over TEPCO to take preventive measures because the scale and direction of the actual tsunami differed from estimates.

The ruling marks a major milestone 11 years after a massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan's northeastern region triggered the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and will inevitably set a precedent for future cases.

Plaintiffs and supporters gathered in front of Tokyo's Supreme Court expressed outrage at the decision. "This is absolutely unacceptable. Can you really read out this ruling in front of the people of Fukushima?" yelled Izutaro Managi, a plaintiffs' lawyer.

A plaintiff in the Chiba lawsuit, Seiju Nambara, also criticized the court's decision, saying, "It is a terrible outcome that gives the message it cannot be helped if an accident occurs without taking measures."

Nambara, who had to flee Fukushima Prefecture's Minamisoma, added that he did not know what to tell his children after his son was bullied during junior high school for being an evacuee.

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