Tepco ordered to pay ¥100 million in damages over 2011 disaster
Presiding Judge Masahiko Abe ordered the payment mainly as compensation for damage to property and consolation money for life during evacuation while dismissing the claim against the state.
In the lawsuit, Katsutaka Idogawa, 79, former mayor of Futaba, a town in Fukushima Prefecture, blamed the central government and Tepco for their inadequate handling of the accident, arguing that it led to his exposure to radiation.
Futaba is one of the two municipalities that host the northeastern Japan nuclear plant, which experienced meltdowns after being hit by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
He sought a total of ¥755 million in the suit.
Idogawa claimed that he suffered from health problems such as atrophy of the thyroid gland due to radiation exposure.
However, the judge said he cannot accept the claim that the plaintiff was exposed to radiation exceeding the annual limit set by the state.
There is no objective evidence to support a causal relationship between his health problems and radiation exposure, the ruling said.
Additionally, the court decided that there was a strong possibility that a similar accident might have occurred even if the state had obligated Tepco to implement tougher measures against tsunamis.
On another complaint that the state failed to share data on radiation levels and other information necessary for evacuation after the accident began, the court denied the state's liability.
It was determined that no causal relationship existed between the state's handling of the accident and harm caused to Idogawa, nor was there any notable impact on the evacuation.
Between March 11, 2011, when the accident began, and March 19, when mass evacuation to Saitama Prefecture took place, Idogawa was leading the town's evacuation. He filed the suit in 2015.
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