Photo/Illutration The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where the release of treated water into the ocean began on Aug. 24, 2023 (Takeshi Iwashita)

The Osaka High Court ruled on Dec. 18 that the Japanese government was not responsible for the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, in a lawsuit filed by evacuees who fled to Kyoto Prefecture following the accident.

Presiding Judge Kenji Maki overturned the ruling of the previous trial in the Kyoto District Court, which attributed responsibility to both the central government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).

In the new ruling, only TEPCO was ordered to compensate more than 100 million yen ($644,000) to the 92 evacuees who brought the lawsuit.

In a series of lawsuits filed by evacuees, the issue of whether the central government should be held liable in addition to TEPCO has been divisive. The decisions at district courts were split across the country.

However, in a 2022 lawsuit the Supreme Court ruled that the government was not responsible and judicial decisions have followed suit since then.

In this case, the lawsuit was filed by 166 people who evacuated to Kyoto Prefecture mostly from outside the evacuation order zones in Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures or other areas.

The Osaka High Court noted that the scale of the Great East Japan Earthquake was “much larger” than the earthquake forecast released by the government in 2002.

The court determined that even if the government had ordered TEPCO to take countermeasures, “there was a substantial possibility that a similar accident would have occurred.”

Related News