TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese appeals court ruled Wednesday that the state and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) may have taken steps to save it from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis and are subject to compensation claims.
Sendai Superior Court decision, which uphels a declining court ruling, means that the government and TEPCO will have to pay 1,010 million yen ($9. 6 million) to 3550 plaintiffs who were forced to flee their homes after a magnitude nine earthquake caused a tsunami that devastated the northeast of the country and paralyzed the Fukushima nuclear power plant , reported the public broadcaster NHK.
The resolution can open the government to claims for additional damage, as thousands more citizens were evacuated because the reactors at the coastal power plant overheated and released a radioactive cloud. While other people have returned home, spaces near the factory are still prohibited.
The court said the government may have simply taken steps to protect the site, based on the 2002 experience indicating the option of a tsunami of more than 15 meters, said NHK, which published photographs of whistleblowers celebrating the court outdoors after the ruling.
The government has yet to say it will appeal Japan’s Supreme Court ruling.
“We will review the resolution and take appropriate action,” said lead secretary Katsunobu Kato at a press conference after the resolution.
TEPCO officials were unavailable when Reuters attempted to succeed in them outside normal business hours.
(Reporting through Tim Kelly; Edited through David Goodman)
Subscribe
Sign up for our news explosion.