TEPCO Ordered to Pay 90M Yen in Damages Over Fukushima Evacuations

Osaka District Court has ordered Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) to pay approximately 90 million yen in damages to plaintiffs who were forced to evacuate following the March 2011 accident at TEPCO's Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant.

The lawsuit, filed by 221 people from 79 households, including evacuees to the Kinki region in western Japan, resulted in 103 plaintiffs from 53 households being awarded damages.

According to the court's ruling, TEPCO is responsible for the damages under the nuclear damage compensation law, regardless of any negligence. The court did not recognize the government's responsibility for the nuclear accident, citing a Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that stated there was a substantial possibility that the accident could have occurred even if the government had exercised regulatory authority.

Akiko Morimatsu, one of the plaintiffs, criticized the district court's ruling, stating 'It's almost like a suicide by judiciary.'