information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
22 Janvier 2015
January 22, 2015
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150122p2a00m0na001000c.html
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is set to decide soon not to indict three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co., including then Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, it has been learned.
In September 2013, Tokyo prosecutors made their initial decision not to file charges against three former TEPCO executives, including 74-year-old Katsumata. But investigators at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office are currently reinvestigating the three former TEPCO executives after a judicial panel of citizens decided last July that the three should be indicted.
Sources said that prosecutors will make a formal decision soon not to indict them after experts on tsunami, plant engineering and other fields explained in the reinvestigation process that there was little they could do. "There is a high possibility that even if they had taken anti-tsunami measures, they would not have been able to prevent the accident," said the experts.
Following prosecutors' latest decision, the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution is to re-examine the case. If the committee decides again that the three men should be indicted, the Tokyo District Court will pick lawyers to serve as prosecutors and file an indictment against the three.
In 2008, TEPCO estimated that a tsunami as high as 15.7 meters could hit the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. After its initial investigation, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office decided not to indict the three men, saying, "The estimate was based on the severest conditions and it is difficult to acknowledge that it was possible to predict the accident."
In response to prosecutors' decision, the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution decided in July 2014 that the three men should be indicted, arguing that they could have avoided or mitigated the accident if they had taken steps such as: installing switch boards and power generators on higher ground; and making buildings waterproof.
In its reinvestigation of the case, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office interviewed experts on tsunami, plant engineering and other fields in addition to the former TEPCO executives. Prosecutors have apparently come to a conclusion that it is highly possible that even if the aforementioned anti-disaster measures had been taken, the damage caused by tsunami could not have been avoided.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150122_33.html
Jan. 22, 2015 - Updated 13:12 UTC+1
The leader of a group of citizens from Fukushima and other areas has expressed outrage over the prosecutors' decision not to indict the former officials.
Ruiko Muto leads the group that filed the criminal complaint.
Muto said at a news conference on Thursday that the prosecutors' decision totally ignores the judgment by the inquest panel, which she said served to express opinions of the public.
She said the victims of the accident sincerely hope that justice will be served concerning those responsible for the accident.
The group's lawyer Hiroyuki Kawai said it's unreasonable that the prosecutors decided not to indict the 3 even though they had done nothing to prepare for a tsunami.
Kawai said the group hopes the panel will decide to indict the former officials so that they will be held accountable.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150122_31.html
Jan. 22, 2015 - Updated 12:09 UTC+1
Prosecutors have again dismissed a criminal complaint against 3 former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company over the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Tokyo prosecutors made the decision following a reinvestigation into the case in response to a judgment by a prosecutor inquest panel last July.
The judiciary panel at that time said the utility's former chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and 2 others should stand trial over their handling of the accident.
That's despite prosecutors' initial conclusion 2 years ago that it would be difficult to indict the 3 former executives.
In the reinvestigation, prosecutors have been hearing from experts on nuclear engineering and tsunami. They did not change their decision.
The prosecutors explained that Tokyo Electric in 2008 estimated the effect of a tsunami as high as the one that hit in 2011. But they said that since reactor buildings were submerged in water several times deeper than they'd estimated, it's hard to say the executives should have predicted the risk.
The case now automatically goes back to the inquest panel. If it repeats its judgment, the 3 former officials will have to stand trial according to judicial procedures.