More than 30,000 people still live in refuge Compensation for the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident is still infuriating

The picture shows the victims of the nuclear accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Plant's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant demanding compensation from the Japanese government and TEPCO outside the court. CFP courtesy of the figure

□ Ji Yong, a reporter of this newspaper in Japan

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan was identified as one of the worst nuclear leaks in human history, causing incalculable damage to the lives, health and property of local people. Today, 11 years after the accident, more than 30 lawsuits by the victims of the nuclear accident against the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company (hereinafter referred to as "TEPCO") are still continuing. Recently, the Supreme Court of Japan issued a judgment on three class actions, determining for the first time that TEPCO should be liable for compensation to the victims.

The Supreme Court rendered its decision

On March 2, Japan's Supreme Court rejected TEPCO's appeal and ordered TEPCO to pay about 1.4 billion yen (about 76.3 million yuan) in damages to about 3,600 plaintiffs affected by the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The judgment is the first Supreme Court judgment to determine TEPCO's liability in more than 30 similar class-action lawsuits initiated by more than 12,000 accident victims to date.

According to Japanese media reports, the three class actions were brought by victims of fukushima prefecture and neighboring prefectures to the Fukushima District Court, lawsuits filed by fukushima victims who had taken refuge in Chiba Prefecture, and lawsuits filed by refugees in Gunma Prefecture. Among them, the Fukushima lawsuit claimed 1.01 billion yen in damages, the Chiba lawsuit claimed 120 million yen in damages, and the Gunma Prefecture lawsuit claimed 270 million yen in damages. Of the three class actions, the earliest began in March 2013.

The Japanese High Court previously ruled that the nuclear power plant accident caused the defendant's living base to be lost or changed dramatically, and that the long-term refuge life also caused personal mental damage, and TEPCO needed to compensate for this. This time, the Supreme Court endorsed the decision.

As the first Supreme Court judgment to determine TEPCO's liability in 11 years since the accident, it will serve as a reference for the remaining 30 similar lawsuits.

Coincidentally, following the judgment on the 2nd, the Supreme Court of Japan rejected TEPCO's appeal in three other similar class actions on the 7th, ordering about 1.1 billion yen (about 59.95 million yuan) in compensation to about 580 plaintiffs.

According to reports, the three class actions were filed by residents of Kotaka Ward, Minami-Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture, who received government evacuation instructions after the accident, and Tokyo District Court, residents of Fukushima City and other places outside the evacuation instruction area filed lawsuits with the Fukushima District Court, and residents of Minami Soma City and other places filed a lawsuit against the Iwaki Branch of the Fukushima District Court.

In the three class actions mentioned above, the Japanese Supreme Court awarded compensation higher than the Japanese government compensation standard. The plaintiffs' lawyer, Yoshitaro Nomura, told a news conference that the Supreme Court rejected TEPCO's appeal before March 11 ( the anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake ) , sending a message to Tepco to "stop arguing and take responsibility."

Compensation standards came into focus

At present, in more than 30 lawsuits around compensation for people affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, including six class-action lawsuits decided by the Supreme Court of Japan, the compensation liability of TEPCO and the Japanese government and the compensation standard determined by the government guidelines are reasonable is the main point of debate in the court trial.

First of all, the compensation standards for TEPCO are mainly based on the guidelines for determining the scope of compensation revised by the Japanese government's "Atomic Energy Damage Compensation Dispute Review Council" in 2013, and the compensation standards determined by TEPCO based on the pointers. This compensation method gives the initiative in the compensation items and amount to TEPCO, resulting in the amount of compensation generally being significantly lower than the actual losses suffered by the victims, which has become the most controversial issue in the compensation litigation. The amount of compensation awarded by the Supreme Court of Japan is higher than the compensation standard of TEPCO, and it is judicially recognized that the compensation standard does not meet the actual damage. The judgment will not only have an impact on other similar lawsuits, but may also serve as a push for the Japanese government to revise its guidelines for compensation.

Second, with regard to the "joint and several" liability of the Japanese Government. In several lawsuits, the plaintiffs argued that in view of the "long-term assessment" of earthquake predictions published by the Japanese government's earthquake investigation and research headquarters in 2002, it was entirely possible for the government and TEPCO to foresee the accident and take measures such as raising breakwaters and waterproofing nuclear reactor buildings, but the government did not improve them, resulting in the accident. Since the public entrusts the responsibility for nuclear power supervision to the government's atomic power regulation committee, the government should bear "joint and several" responsibility for accidents. In the six class actions ruled by Japan's Supreme Court, the determination of government liability was inconsistent. In the next step, the court will listen to the opinions of the state and the people, and is expected to make a final decision this summer, and divide the proportion of compensation borne by the Japanese government and TEPCO.

Finally, with regard to TEPCO's liability to victims who actively evacuate disaster victims outside the region instructed by the government to take refuge, TEPCO evades damages and moral compensation liabilities based on the scope of compensation stipulated by the "Atomic Energy Damage Compensation Dispute Review Council" of the Japanese government. The Supreme Court's judgment upheld the plaintiff's claim that TEPCO was liable for compensation. Although the Supreme Court of Japan did not give detailed reasons for the judgment, the Sendai High Court, which rendered the second instance, ruled that the plaintiff suffered great mental pain such as intense fear caused by nuclear radiation in the accident, and that even if the government did not give evacuation instructions, the damage could be determined and TEPCO was required to pay 300,000 yen in compensation to each person.

TEPCO should sincerely apologize

In response to the Japanese Supreme Court's first judgment that TEPCO bears liability, Osaka City University Professor Rishi Honjo commented on Kyodo News Agency, "Tepco should take the opportunity to determine the liability for compensation and sincerely apologize."

The Fukushima Minori newspaper commented that 11 years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, and more than 33,000 people are still living in refuge in and around Fukushima Prefecture. The victims were outraged by the fact that the victims' ties with their local and family ties had been severed due to the accident, and the issue of compensation had not yet been resolved. It is hoped that the Supreme Court of Japan will be able to take the position of relieving the victims of the disaster and make a judgment on the responsibility of the state as soon as possible.

As one of the most serious nuclear leakage accidents in human history, the impact and harm of the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident are huge and far-reaching, and there are still many problems around the compensation for the accident, the determination of the responsibility of the TEPCO leadership and the aftermath of the nuclear power plant.

In February, Japanese prosecutors forced a lawsuit against Katsumata Kenhisa (81 years old, former president of TEPCO), Ichiro Takeguro (75, former vice president of TEPCO), and Eiji Muto (71, former vice president of TEPCO), who were senior officials at the Time of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, for the crime of death and injury caused by business negligence, and heard at the Tokyo High Court. The court is expected to render a judgement at the next trial. In the first instance trial in 2019, the prosecution demanded that the three defendants be sentenced to 5 years in prison for causing death and injury caused by negligence in the event of a large-scale tsunami accident, resulting in a huge nuclear leakage disaster, resulting in the death of 44 people in futaba hospitals and nursing homes adjacent to the nuclear power plant.

In addition to court hearings, there are more problems in the aftermath of nuclear power plants. TEPCO expects the plant's abandonment to be completed in 40 years' time, during which it faces a host of problems, including removal of nuclear fuel rods, recovery of melted-out nuclear fuel, and disposal of radioactive pollutants. The Japanese government originally planned to transport the soil and construction waste contaminated by nuclear radiation in and around the nuclear power plant to fukushima Prefecture for disposal, but the plan was actually stalled due to opposition from various places. In the treatment of nuclear wastewater, the Japanese government has ignored the strong opposition of the local people in Fukushima Prefecture and the international community, and has insisted on discharging it into the ocean and leaving a disaster for all mankind.

The aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident is protracted and the risks are accumulating, and the Japanese government and TEPCO should adopt a positive and responsible attitude to make up for the losses as much as possible, avoid the continued expansion of pollution, and regain the trust of the Japanese people and the international community.

Source: Rule of Law Daily