"Ex-TEPCO executives again plead not guilty to nuke accident" 3 November 2021

Three former Tokyo Electric Power Co. executives again maintained their innocence as proceedings began Nov. 2 at the Tokyo High Court on an appeal of a lower court ruling that absolved the three of negligence in the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Tsunehisa Katsumata, 81, a former TEPCO chairman, Ichiro Takekuro, 75, a former vice president, and Sakae Muto, 71, also a former vice president, were indicted by a prosecution inquest panel in 2016.

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However, the Tokyo District Court in 2019 found the three not guilty on grounds they could not have predicted that a gigantic tsunami would inundate the plant and cut off all electricity to cool the reactors.

In their opening statement on Nov. 2 at the Tokyo High Court, the lawyers designated as the prosecutors in the appeals case argued that the district court ruling should be overturned because the executives could have foreseen a tsunami could swamp the plant based on the long-term earthquake forecast made by a government panel.

The two main issues in question in the case are whether the executives could have foreseen the tsunami and whether they took the necessary steps to prevent damage to the nuclear plant from a tsunami.

The Tokyo District Court cast doubt on the reliability of the long-term earthquake forecast and said the executives could not have foreseen that a situation would arise calling for the immediate stoppage of operations at the Fukushima plant.

The prosecutors at the high court said the district court made a major error by denying the forecast, which was the only official view of the central government, and based on scientific rationale.

They also said the district court should have considered if other measures, such as the building of a tide embankment, could have prevented damage to the plant.

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