Japan nuclear bosses cleared of negligence over tsunami

THREE former executives of the company that operated the Fukushima nuclear plant were cleared by a Tokyo court yesterday of professional negligence resulting in death and injury.

Tsunehisa Katsumata, a former chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Company, was found not guilty along with former vice presidents Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Mutō of charges arising from the meltdown of three reactors at the plant in March 2011.

They were charged with failing to heed reports that the Fukushima Daiichi plant could sustain serious damage in the event that a major earthquake off Japan caused a tsunami. Prosecutors had sought five-year jail terms.

When a magnitude nine earthquake struck on March 11 2011, generating a tsunami estimated at 46ft (12m) high, waves swamped the plant, causing the meltdown of three of the six reactors.

Kenichi Nagafuchi, the judge, said: “It would be impossible to operate a nuclear plant if operators are obliged to predict every possibility about a tsunami and take the necessary measures”.

“Given the evidence presented on prior knowledge of seismic and tsunami risks ... it should have been a simple case of failing to take action that would have reduced or eliminated the risks”, said Shaun Burnie, a senior nuclear specialist for Greenpeace. “But this is the pre-eminent utility of Japan and a guilty ruling would have been utterly devastating for the nuclear policies of Shinzō Abe [the Japanese prime minister]”, he told The Daily Telegraph.