Japan Supreme Court Upholds TEPCO Execs' Acquittals Over Fukushima Disaster

Japan's Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of two former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) regarding professional negligence linked to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The court found that Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto could not have predicted the massive tsunami that triggered the meltdown, a decision reaffirmed by both lower courts prior to the Supreme Court's ruling. The executives faced accusations related to the deaths of over 40 patients who were evacuated due to the disaster, but the court indicated that the long-term projections available at the time lacked credibility. Former chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, whose trial was terminated after his death last year, was also implicated but was acquitted posthumously. Despite the criminal acquittal, the same individuals were ordered to pay $90 billion in a separate civil case for failing to prevent the disaster, signaling a complex legal aftermath. This ruling effectively concludes the only criminal trial stemming from the Fukushima accident, which remains the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.