Court rejects ¥13.3 tril damages verdict against Fukushima operator ex-bosses

Japan law:

People without power = guilty before proven innocent, 99% of the time.

People in power = never guilty.

Curious how that works.

The danger was real and the warnings were given but because the ‘Japanese TEPCO experts’ didn’t deem it a threat it was ignored. It became a reality and destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and all is quashed. TIJ!

Shareholders had argued the catastrophe could have been prevented if Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) bosses had listened to research and implemented preventative measures like placing an emergency power source on higher ground.

Completely agree with the shareholders here. This is an awful verdict.

The risks were known, and TEPCO bosses were at fault for their lack of preparedness.

But the defendants countered that the risks were unpredictable, and the studies cited were not credible.

Risk is inherently unpredictable.

And, regardless of whether the studies were "credible" or not, tsunamis of that magnitude had occurred in the Pacific ring of fire. Despite the lack of consensus on the probability, there was always a chance it could happen in Japan. The IAEA noted this in its report.

...

https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Pub1710-ReportByTheDG-Web.pdf

[P50]

Large magnitude earthquakes (M 9) had occurred elsewhere in the Pacific ‘ring of fire’, for example in Chile in 1960 and in Alaska in 1964, shortly before Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 was given the construction licence. These earthquakes did not lead to a consensus among Japanese seismologists that such an event would be possible close to the shores of Japan in a tectonic environment similar to those that generated earthquakes in other areas of the Pacific tectonic plate.

...

I can understand (though don't agree with) TEPCO avoiding major enhancements like huge tsunami walls for cost reasons, but things like placing generators on higher ground are a relatively inexpensive thing to do. Just that one thing might've prevented the disaster, as the primary cause was the loss of power, leading to cooling failure in the reactors.

"Shareholders had argued the catastrophe could have been prevented if Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) bosses had listened to research and implemented preventative measures like placing an emergency power source on higher ground."

Natural disasters are very unpredictable and I hate to say even placing emergency power source on the top of mount Everest or Kiri Manjaro is not guaranteed preventative measures.

Sorry, mistyped the above:

tsunamis of that magnitude ... earthquakes of that magnitude

The plant was designed and built with the lowest acceptable safety standards in the interests of profit. Emergency generators in the turbine hall basements below sea level. Cooling fan for the reactors on the dockside. Electrical control panels are on the ground-level floors. No watertight reactor buildings. No secondary emergency water supplies. Most could have been included without a great increase in the plant costs.

But the defendants countered that the risks were unpredictable, and the studies cited were not credible.

The studies were not credible? Really? They seem to have predicted exactly what happened. How much more credible could they have been?

The risk of the nuclear power plant built so close to the ocean being exposed to massive earthquake damage may or may not have been foreseeable (the former seems, but the verdict was certainly predictable: we all know that some folk in every society are "untouchable" and above the law.

Correction:

The risk of the nuclear power plant built so close to the ocean being exposed to massive earthquake damage may or may not have been foreseeable (the former seems the more likely, however), but the verdict was certainly predictable: we all know that some folk in every society are "untouchable" and above the law.

Tokyo Electric was a "Blue Ribbon" stock.

A hell of a lot of people had their retirement funds parked there.

Gone!

Not that ling before the quake, they ran a scenario which predicted precisely how much damage such a tsunami of that size would cause, and they ignored it. They are culpable.

Japanese justice for you.

The corrupt high ranking powerful people get let off the hook while the plebs get imprisoned for stealing a rice ball.

Where nuclear disasters are concerned and damage is the result then compensation for claimed damage is either extremely restricted or non-existent.

For those thinking that there could be any type of justice are just living in a fantasy world

The result of this case was a foregone conclusion…and very foreseeable.

Two young engineers were killed on the day of the disaster. They were in the emergency generator room when it flooded from the tsunami. Industrial manslaughter.

Four former executives had in 2022 been ordered to collectively pay 13.3 trillion yen in a suit brought by shareholders over the nuclear disaster triggered by a massive tsunami in 2011.

Even if the award was upheld where would the four former executives get the money?

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.

So it was meant not only to cover tepcos costs as a result of the disaster but also to put the blame squarely only on the executives and absolve tepco

Tepco owners don't want to pay for the disaster

TEPCO is owned 51% by the government, which means the taxpayer. The Nuclear Disaster Limited Liability Laws make power companies only liable for a maximum of ¥120 billion.

The cost so far is about ¥25 trillion, with TEPCO paying about ¥14 trillion.

The costs will rise considerably over the coming decades.

Just privatizing gains, and socializing costs

The cangaroo courts in Japan ALWAYS verdict in favor of Japanese Executives, politicians, or people with power, in general, without exceptions. There is absolut knowledge that the average Tanaka has ZERO chance in a law suit against those Mega corps.

This is the sad reality of Japan, but not only, to be honest...

"could have prevented" but they cannot prove that.

DanteKH

Today 10:43 pm JST

The cangaroo courts in Japan ALWAYS verdict in favor of Japanese Executives, politicians, or people with power, in general, without exceptions. There is absolut knowledge that the average Tanaka has ZERO chance in a law suit against those Mega corps.

> This is the sad reality of Japan, but not only, to be honest...

The suit was brought by tepco of whichthe majority shareholder is the Japan govt

Japan law:

People without power = guilty before proven innocent, 99% of the time.

People in power = never guilty.

Curious how that works.

You also forgot

Foreigners with power in Japan = guilty before proven innocent, 99% of the time.

Foreigners without power in Japan = guilty before proven innocent, 99% of the time.

Corruption!

The national government is covering up their involvement with their buddies at TEPCO because the four executives probably got dirt on current and deceased members of the majority party in the diet.

What was the judge offered for threatened with?

@Silvafan

You are absolutely right (x2) !

I don't follow most of the opinions here (except ian's). I can accept mistakes were made with the placing of the pump. But who should take responsibility? The owners of the company (i.e. the shareholders) or the executives? I think they all hold some responsibility - but as the executives are serving the owners, maybe more blame lies with the owners. Meanwhile, the two engineers that Wallace referred to and the thousands of local residents who had to move out of their homes are the ones that deserve compensation.

Though plural investigation committees had certified that Fukushima nuclear disaster is man-made disaster, Tepco managements can escape penalty.

Such unjust judgment is not only irresponsible, but also liable to cause that other domestic major power corporations having nuclear plants underestimate safety measures.

Judges who decided inconvenient judgment to nuclear industries have been demoted one after another in Japan.

Basically.. is like a cold.

If you keep your health in check and immunity strong. You won't catch a cold.

However, nobody can guarantee that's 100% certain..

In other words they're defending themselves with sophistries.. trying to argue they don't had "studies" to foresee the disasters when in reality no studies are needed, just common sense.

Japan is the country of earthquakes and natural disasters is it not?