Fukushima N-Plant Evacuees Settle with TEPCO

Sapporo, Aug. 26 (Jiji Press)–A total of 176 people who fled Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, following the March 2011 severe nuclear accident there have reached a settlement with Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. in their damages lawsuit filed against the firm and the government. The settlement was reached on Aug. 18 at Sapporo High Court in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs. All the plaintiffs withdrew their damages claims against the government. The decision came on the heels of the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling that the government was not liable for the nuclear accident and a series of similar court decisions that followed. The plaintiffs evacuated from Fukushima Prefecture to Hokkaido in the wake of the triple meltdown at the tsunami-stricken plant in Fukushima. Under the settlement, TEPCO apologized for the irreparable damage the plaintiffs suffered because of the accident. The settlement amount was not disclosed. The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the sum was “not sufficient but took into account their claims to a certain extent.” Seiichi Nakate, head of the plaintiffs, and his family evacuated from the city of Fukushima to the city of Sapporo in 2012. “The settlement is far from enough to make up for our indescribable suffering, but we decided (to accept it) because we cannot endure any more exhaustion,” he said. In its March 2020 ruling, Sapporo District Court ordered the government and TEPCO to pay about 53 million yen in total to some of the plaintiffs, finding both liable for the accident. The plaintiffs, TEPCO and the government all appealed the ruling. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]