» 1,400 people files lawsuit against nuclear plant makers

2014/01/31

1,400 people filed a group action lawsuit Jan. 30 against the manufacturers of the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to blame for the accident that occurred there in March 2011.

The plaintiffs include evacuees from the Fukushima disaster in 2011. They are suing General Electric Japan, Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp., which produced the reactors used at the facility, even though the nuclear damage compensation facilitation law stipulates that only facility operators have an obligation to pay reparations in the event of an accident.

Of the plaintiffs, 1,000 are Japanese, including 38 residents of Fukushima Prefecture. The remaining 400 are from South Korea, Taiwan and other countries and regions that have nuclear plants.

The plaintiffs’ group argued that they “have suffered emotional pain from radiation exposure” or “were shocked and felt fear over the spread of radioactive substances after watching video footage of the accident.”

One of the plaintiff attorneys emphasizes the lawsuit’s significance because it is designed to drag the makers of the reactors out of hiding behind TEPCO.

The amount of claimed compensation was set low–just 100 yen ($1) per person–because the lawsuit is primarily intended to force the reactor makers to accept their responsibility.
<Media Report>
1,400 sue makers of Fukushima nuke reactors (Asahi Newspaper)

Tags:anti-nuclear movement, citizens' movement, litigation, news, TEPCO

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