Japan’s Supreme Court Finalizes Acquittal of Ex-TEPCO ExecutivesFukushima Negligence Case

The court ruled the 2011 nuclear disaster was unforeseeable, dismissing appeals for criminal liability against two former executives.

The Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings acquitting former TEPCO executives Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto of professional negligence related to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The court determined the magnitude of the tsunami that caused the disaster was unpredictable, making the executives not criminally liable for the resulting deaths during evacuations.
This decision concludes the only criminal trial stemming from the Fukushima accident, which followed a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region.
The ruling dismissed appeals from a civil prosecution panel that argued the disaster could have been prevented with adequate safety measures based on earlier tsunami risk assessments.
In a separate civil case in 2022, the same executives were ordered to pay a record-breaking ¥13.3 trillion in damages, though this amount is largely symbolic and unlikely to be paid.