TOKYO – A Japanese court said Wednesday that the government and operator of the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant did not take steps to save it from the 2011 nuclear disaster, and ordered them to pay about one billion yen ($9. 5 million) in damage to thousands of people. citizens for their lost livelihoods.
Sendai Superior Court criticized the government for the collapse of 3 reactors, saying the regulatory firm at the time could have predicted a primary tsunami long before the disaster, according to lawyers representing more than 3,600 plaintiffs.
The ruling is a primary victory for plaintiffs and may set a precedent for similar lawsuits underway across the country, according to plaintiffs’ leading lawyer Izutaro Managi.
So far, thirteen declining judicial decisions have been divided over the government’s duty to disaster.
The court also ordered the government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. , to pay damages to the plaintiffs, doubling the amount that a reduction court had ordered TEPCO to pay in 2017.
“We call on the government to take greater relief measures as soon as possible, not only for whistleblowers, but also for all who suffer, based on the pain they have suffered,” Managi said.
The previous resolution also indicated that a tsunami threat was predictable and that the crisis could have been avoided if the government had ordered TEPCO to take appropriate preventive measures.
The High Court said Wednesday that regulators at the government’s now-defunct Government Industrial and Nuclear Safety Agency have forecast a tsunami that will reach 15. 7 meters (51. 5 feet) according to a specialized assessment in 2002.
The court said the government and TEPCO, while aware of the tsunami option, had not conducted a threat assessment or taken protective measures, according to lawyers.
The whistleblowers claimed that the resolution had done justice, yet their lives can never be general again and their struggle is over.
“For more than nine years, I have planted seeds in infected soils and grown vegetables, concerned about the effects of radiation,” said whistleblower (asterisk) Kazuya Tarukawa, a Farmer from Sukagawa in Fukushima, at a post-trial assembly. ( asterisk) Our infected land will never be the same again. “
The plaintiffs sought a monthly refund of approximately 50,000 yen ($470) according to the user until the radiation levels fell to pre-disaster levels, requiring a total of 28 billion yen ($265 million).
The government argued that I was waiting for the tsunami or saving you from the next disaster. TEPCO claims to have fulfilled its liability for compensation in accordance with government guidelines.
The chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato, told reporters that the government would respond after careful attention to the decision, but did not say whether he would appeal.
Radiation from the plant’s melted reactors infected the surrounding areas, forcing some 160,000 citizens to evacuate at some point. More than 50,000 people remain displaced due to persistent security issues.
The plant is being dismantled, a procedure that is expected to take decades.
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