Former Tepco Executives Appeal $97 Billion Damages Ruling
Four former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company, responsible for the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, have appealed a court ruling in which they were ordered to pay damages to the utility.
Shareholders of the Tokyo power utility who had sued five former executives are also said to have appealed, so the trial is expected to continue at the Tokyo High Court.
The plaintiffs say the company incurred massive losses from the 2011 accident at the plant. The costs include decommissioning the plant's crippled reactors and compensating local residents who had to evacuate.
The plaintiffs had demanded 22 trillion yen, or more than 160 billion dollars, from the five former executives.
The Tokyo District Court ruling on July 13 acknowledged the former management's responsibility. It ordered former chairman Katsumata Tsunehisa, former president Shimizu Masataka and former vice presidents Takekuro Ichiro and Muto Sakae to pay a total of 13.3trillion yen, or about 97 billion dollars in damages.
The district court had cleared former managing director Komori Akio of responsibility for damages. But the plaintiffs included him in their appeal.
The lower court's decision is the first in a civil case on the liability of the utility's former executives for losses stemming from the 2011 disaster.
The compensation amount is believed to be the highest ever ordered by a court in Japan.