Former TEPCO bosses indicted over Fukushima meltdown

Euan McKirdy
By Yoko Wakatsuki and Euan McKirdy, CNN
Published 1:29 AM EST, Mon February 29, 2016
A TEPCO employee walks past the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on February 10, 2016. Next month, Japan will mark the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, when an earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11, 2011, leaving more than 15,000 people dead.
Photos: Inside Fukushima: Cleanup underway, 5 years on
PHOTO: Toru Hanai/Pool Photo via AP
A TEPCO employee walks past the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on February 10, 2016. Next month, Japan will mark the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, when an earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11, 2011, leaving more than 15,000 people dead.
TEPCO employees, in blue protective suits, brief a press group in front of storage tanks for radioactive water on Februray 10.
Photos: Inside Fukushima: Cleanup underway, 5 years on
PHOTO: Toru Hanai/Pool Photo via AP
TEPCO employees, in blue protective suits, brief a press group in front of storage tanks for radioactive water on Februray 10.
A member of the tour group, donning a protective suit and a mask, takes a look at the crippled No. 3 reactor on February 10.
Photos: Inside Fukushima: Cleanup underway, 5 years on
PHOTO: Toru Hanai/Pool Photo via AP
A member of the tour group, donning a protective suit and a mask, takes a look at the crippled No. 3 reactor on February 10.
A TEPCO employee measures a radiation level of 213 microsieverts per hour in front of the No. 2, left, and No. 3 reactor buildings on February 10.
Photos: Inside Fukushima: Cleanup underway, 5 years on
PHOTO: Toru Hanai/Pool Photo via AP
A TEPCO employee measures a radiation level of 213 microsieverts per hour in front of the No. 2, left, and No. 3 reactor buildings on February 10.
A worker approaches the No. 3 reactor on February 10.
Photos: Inside Fukushima: Cleanup underway, 5 years on
PHOTO: Toru Hanai/Pool Photo via AP
A worker approaches the No. 3 reactor on February 10.
A worker levels out the ground at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on February 10.
Photos: Inside Fukushima: Cleanup underway, 5 years on
PHOTO: Toru Hanai/Pool Photo via AP
A worker levels out the ground at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on February 10.
Workers, wearing protective suits and masks, stand near the No. 3 and No. 4 reactor buildings on February 10.
Photos: Inside Fukushima: Cleanup underway, 5 years on
PHOTO: Toru Hanai/Pool Photo via AP
Workers, wearing protective suits and masks, stand near the No. 3 and No. 4 reactor buildings on February 10.

Story highlights

Former chairman, VPs indicted by Tokyo court for their role in 2011 meltdown

Fukushima residents had previously tried twice to hold the executives to account.

(CNN) —  

The former CEO of TEPCO, along with two other executives, have been indicted by a Japanese court facing charges relating to the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.

Former Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, along with two former executive vice presidents, Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto, were indicted for professional negligence to the Tokyo district court.

The accident, which occurred when a tsunami hit the coastal plant in March 2011, caused a meltdown and widespread radiation leaks in the northeastern Japanese province.

Acting prosecutors – lawyers chosen by the prosecution commission – allege that the three had not fulfilled their responsibility to prevent the accident, which resulted in the exposure of Fukushima residents to radiation, the injury of 13 workers at the plant, and the death of 44 patients, evacuated from the immediate vicinity of the plant to hospitals in surrounding areas.

It is claimed by the prosecutors that the patients’ deaths, who were elderly or gravely ill, were linked to their move in the immediate aftermath of the meltdown as they were evacuated, but that connection has not been formally confirmed.

TEPCO: Fukushima meltdown announcement made months late

People wearing protective suits and masks ride on a bus past the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Okuma, Japan, on Saturday, November 12 2012. Journalists got their first ground-level glance around the stricken facility, eying shells of reactor buildings, tons of contaminated water, and workers still scurrying to mitigate damage from a crisis that began eight months ago.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
People wearing protective suits and masks ride on a bus past the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Okuma, Japan, on Saturday, November 12 2012. Journalists got their first ground-level glance around the stricken facility, eying shells of reactor buildings, tons of contaminated water, and workers still scurrying to mitigate damage from a crisis that began eight months ago.
The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station is seen through a bus window in Okuma on Saturday. An epic 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami March 11 wreaked havoc around Japan, killing more than 15,000 people. While many of those died instantly, the East Asian nation was on edge for weeks as utility and government employees scrambled to prevent a worsening nuclear catastrophe at the Daiichi plant, located about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Tokyo.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station is seen through a bus window in Okuma on Saturday. An epic 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami March 11 wreaked havoc around Japan, killing more than 15,000 people. While many of those died instantly, the East Asian nation was on edge for weeks as utility and government employees scrambled to prevent a worsening nuclear catastrophe at the Daiichi plant, located about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Tokyo.
A deserted street near Okuma is visible from the bus window, inside the contaminated exclusion zone near the crippled nuclear power station.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
A deserted street near Okuma is visible from the bus window, inside the contaminated exclusion zone near the crippled nuclear power station.
Throughout the summer and fall, there were no longer reports of explosions or new leaks of radioactive material into the ground and sea. But the facility still remained off limits to reporters and, for a 20-kilometer radius around the plant, to the general public, due to the continued high levels of radiation and ongoing efforts to prevent yet more blasts and leaks.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
Throughout the summer and fall, there were no longer reports of explosions or new leaks of radioactive material into the ground and sea. But the facility still remained off limits to reporters and, for a 20-kilometer radius around the plant, to the general public, due to the continued high levels of radiation and ongoing efforts to prevent yet more blasts and leaks.
Radiation readings rose steadily as the journalists neared the plant, reaching 6.7 microsieverts in Okuma. There, they put on respirator masks, adding to an ensemble of a protective suit, two pairs of gloves, two sets of plastic booties over their shoes and a radiation detector.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
Radiation readings rose steadily as the journalists neared the plant, reaching 6.7 microsieverts in Okuma. There, they put on respirator masks, adding to an ensemble of a protective suit, two pairs of gloves, two sets of plastic booties over their shoes and a radiation detector.
The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station is visible through a bus window Saturday.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station is visible through a bus window Saturday.
Journalists pass a newly built sea wall next to the crippled nuclear power station.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
Journalists pass a newly built sea wall next to the crippled nuclear power station.
Workers dressed in protective suits and masks are checked for radiation outside a building at J-Village, a soccer training complex now serving as an operation base for those battling Japan's nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
Workers dressed in protective suits and masks are checked for radiation outside a building at J-Village, a soccer training complex now serving as an operation base for those battling Japan's nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
A employee of the Tokyo Electric Power Company walks up stairs near temporary housing built for workers who live at J-Village, at the former soccer training complex.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
A employee of the Tokyo Electric Power Company walks up stairs near temporary housing built for workers who live at J-Village, at the former soccer training complex.
A worker carries his belongings as he walks among the temporary housing structures at J-Village.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
A worker carries his belongings as he walks among the temporary housing structures at J-Village.
A deserted field and buildings inside the contaminated exclusion zone around the crippled nuclear power station are seen through the bus window.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
A deserted field and buildings inside the contaminated exclusion zone around the crippled nuclear power station are seen through the bus window.
A deserted neighborhood inside the contaminated exclusion zone is visible through the bus window.
Photos: Fukushima: A closer look
Fukushima: A closer look —
A deserted neighborhood inside the contaminated exclusion zone is visible through the bus window.

Third attempt

The result will be seen as a victory for the 14,716 Fukushima residents who initially filed the complaint in June 2012. Since then it has been turned down twice by prosecutors. The group took the rare step to push the indictment by bringing it to a prosecution committee on appeal.

“No one took responsibility although an irrevocable nuclear accident happened,” Miwa Chiwaki, secretary general of Fukushima Complainants Criminal Prosecution of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, told CNN.

“Victims were spared and nuclear plant restart has been promoted in this irresponsible society. Clarifying the criminal responsibility of those who caused the accident will lead us to prevent the same tragedy from happening again and to create a society to live without fear of death and threat to our health. We will not give up.”

More than 160,000 people were evacuated from the area near the Fukushima meltdown, the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Fukushima clean-up ‘may take up to 40 years’