Japan Press Weekly

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2018 November 28 - December 4 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Residents of 2011 nuclear crisis-hit town sue utility and gov't

One hundred and nine residents of the most contaminated town of Namie due to the nuclear meltdowns in 2011 filed a lawsuit on November 27 against the central government and TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, seeking a total of 1.32 billion yen in compensation.

The number of plaintiffs is expected to increase by 2,000 more townspeople.

Following the 2011 nuclear meltdown, 15,700 Namie townspeople lodged complaints through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) office to demand an increase in the amount of compensation. The Nuclear Damage Claim Dispute Resolution Center, an arbitration authority, first offered a settlement proposal in 2014 to TEPCO. However, the utility refused to settle six times, which led to the termination of ADR procedures in April of this year. Some of the petitioners, therefore, decided to sue the company.

According to the counsel for the plaintiffs, TEPCO kept ignoring its obligation to accept the settlement proposal despite its promise to respect ADR reconciliation proposals.

After filing the suit, plaintiffs' head Suzuki Shoichi said, "An important purpose of our court battle is to make clear to the public the responsibility of the state and TEPCO to take action."

Past related articles:
> Town assembly asks for JCP’s help to obtain compensation for Fukushima disaster [July 26, 2014]
> 10,000 Fukushima residents use ADR to demand fair compensation from TEPCO [May 31, 2013]
> Fukushima nuclear accident sufferers demand increase in compensation [May 21, 2013]