The court ruled that the executives could have prevented the disaster if they had exercised due care. “A nuclear power plant accident leads to irreversible damage to both human lives and the environment. The executives of companies that operate such plants also have a huge responsibility on them that is incomparable to other companies,” said Yui Kimura, a member of the plaintiff. “I think the court’s decision says that anyone who doesn’t have the determination or ability to take on that responsibility shouldn’t be an executive,” Kimura said at a news conference after the ruling. Public broadcaster NHK quoted an unnamed lawyer representing the former executives as saying the lawyer would not comment until he carefully considered the verdict. A Tepco spokesman also declined to comment on the decision. “We understand that a decision was made on the matter today, but we will refrain from answering questions about individual court cases,” the spokesman said. The ruling marks a departure from a 2019 criminal ruling in which the Tokyo District Court found three Tepco executives not guilty of professional negligence, ruling that they could not have foreseen the massive tsunami that hit the nuclear plant. The criminal case has been appealed and the Tokyo High Court is expected to rule on the case next year. The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster, caused by a tsunami that hit Japan’s east coast in March 2011, was one of the world’s worst and caused huge cleanup, compensation and decommissioning costs for Tepco. The civil suit, brought by Tepco shareholders in 2012, required five former Tepco executives to pay the beleaguered company 22 trillion yen in damages for ignoring warnings of a possible tsunami.
