Fukushima: Historic win for disaster victims, US$12 million in damages

In the first decision of its kind, Japan’s Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) should pay 1.4 billion yen (US$12 million) in damages to about 3,700 residents whose lives were upended by the nuclear disaster in 2011.

Averaging about 380,000 yen (US$3,290) per plaintiff, the damages cover three class-action lawsuits out of more than 30 filed against the utility and are the first to be finalised, public broadcaster NHK reported.

A massive tsunami unleashed by an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 off Japan’s northeastern coast, struck Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant in March 2011. About 470,000 people were forced to evacuate in the first few days, and tens of thousands have not yet been able to return.

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Fukushima evacuees return home for first overnight stay in over 10 years since nuclear disaster

Fukushima evacuees return home for first overnight stay in over 10 years since nuclear disaster

Friday’s decision came as the court rejected an appeal by Tepco and ruled it negligent in taking preventive measures against a tsunami of that size, the broadcaster said. The court withheld a verdict on the role of the government, which is also a defendant in the lawsuits, and will hold a hearing next month to rule on its culpability, NHK added.

Lower courts have split over the extent of the government’s responsibility in foreseeing the disaster and ordering steps by Tepco to prevent it.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, following a devastating earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 which claimed nearly 19,000 lives.

It is the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986 and only the second disaster to measure Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.