Japan's Tepco Ordered to Pay Compensation

Tokyo Electric (Tepco), operator of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear reactor complex that suffered meltdowns in March 2011 following Japan's tsunami, has been ordered by a Japanese court September 22 to pay compensation to some of those forced out of their homes as a consequence.

Japanese broadcaster NYK reported that the Chiba district court has ordered Tepco to pay $3.4mn to 42 plaintiffs out of 45 who filed a lawsuit against Tepco and the government, less than the $25mn they had sought. But the ruling may make it easier for other evacuees to demand compensation.

NYK reported that the Maebashi district court ruled in March that the government and Tepco were both liable and ordered the latter to pay damages.

The Chiba case focused on whether both were able to foresee the risks of a tsunami. Plaintiffs were able to persuade the judge that a pre-2011 assessment by the government's earthquake research promotion unit had predicted a 20% chance of a magnitude-8 tsunami-triggering earthquake in the area offshore Fukushima, according to the BBC and news service Japan Today. The latter reported that the court dismissed claims against the state.

The disaster led Japan to shut all nuclear plants until 2015, requiring a huge ramp-up of fossil-fuel generation and rise in LNG imports during 2012-14. There is still a high level of uncertainty how many Japanese nuclear power plants will be to resume generation in the coming years.

Mark Smedley