Japanese Court Rules "No State Responsibility for Fukushima Nuclear Accident"

Tokyo Electric Power acknowledged responsibility but ruled out national responsibility

Contaminated water tanks at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant photographed on February 13, 2021. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Japan's Supreme Court, equivalent to the Supreme Court, ruled that the state is not liable for compensation for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant explosion accident that occurred during the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011.

According to local media such as Kyodo News on the 17th, the Japanese Supreme Court decided not to recognize the state's liability for compensation in four collective damage lawsuits filed by evacuees from Fukushima and other areas who suffered damages from the nuclear accident against the government.

The evacuees argued that the tsunami was predictable based on the long-term earthquake evaluation announced in 2002 by the government's Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion, nine years before the Great East Japan Earthquake. They claimed that if the government had instructed Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, to prepare measures against nuclear plant flooding, the accident could have been prevented, thus the government should also be held responsible.

However, the government countered that the long-term evaluation had low reliability and that the scale of the actual tsunami differed from the forecast, so even if measures had been instructed, the accident could not have been prevented.

This is the first time the Supreme Court has judged the state's responsibility related to the nuclear accident. However, in March, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling ordering Tokyo Electric Power Company to pay a total of 1.4 billion yen (approximately 134 million KRW) to more than 3,700 evacuees in 30 collective damage lawsuits filed by evacuees.

Previously, on March 11, 2011, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was flooded due to the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake. As a result, the cooling function failed, causing the nuclear fuel to melt, hydrogen explosions to occur, and radioactive materials to spread. The government issued evacuation orders to 12 municipalities near the nuclear plant.

Although the evacuation orders have now been lifted, many evacuees have not returned. Residents of the "Difficult-to-Return Zone" near the nuclear plant have been unable to return to their hometowns for over 11 years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.