Four Former Tepco Directors Ordered To Pay $97 Bil. In Damages To Utility
The Tokyo District Court has ordered four former directors of Tokyo Electric Power Company to pay about 97 billion dollars in damages to the utility.
The shareholders claimed the company incurred massive losses from the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
They include costs for decommissioning the plant's crippled reactors and compensation for local residents who had to evacuate.
The shareholders had demanded 22 trillion yen, or more than 160 billion dollars, from five individuals who held top managerial posts.
On Wednesday, presiding judge Asakura Yoshihide ordered four of the five individuals to compensate the utility a total of 13.3 trillion yen or about 97 billion dollars.
The four directors are former chairman Katsumata Tsunehisa, former president Shimizu Masataka and former vice presidents Takekuro Ichiro and Muto Sakae.
The judge found the long-term assessment of possible seismic activities issued by a government panel in 2002 scientifically reliable.
He said the assessment made it obligatory for the company's managers to take measures against tsunami.
The judge said the former directors were aware of the risks of a serious accident, but failed to call for quick implementation of minimum measures.
He added the accident could have been avoided if steps had been taken to prevent flooding.
The judge cleared former managing director Komori Akio of responsibility for damages, noting that he took up his post less than a year before the accident, so his instructions would not have been carried out in time.
Wednesday's decision is the first civil court ruling on the liability of the utility's former directors for losses stemming from the 2011 nuclear disaster.
The amount of damages is believed to be the highest-ever ordered by a court in Japan.
The lawyer representing the defendants of Katsumata and Shimizu has reportedly refrained from commenting on the ruling, saying its contents have not been fully examined.
The TEPCO officials said they sincerely apologize again for causing distress and anxieties to people in Fukushima and elsewhere over the accident of the nuclear power plant.