Prosecutors on Sept. 9 decided not to indict any of the 40 or so individuals who had been targeted in criminal complaints and accusations for their role in the Fukushima nuclear accident of 2011.
Prosecutors on Sept. 9 decided not to indict any of the 40 or so individuals who had been targeted in criminal complaints and accusations for their role in the Fukushima nuclear accident of 2011.
Residents of Fukushima Prefecture and citizens groups had filed the accusations in Tokyo and Fukushima district public prosecutors offices. Among those targeted were Tsunehisa Katsumata, who was chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co. when the accident occurred at the utility's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, and Naoto Kan, who was the prime minister at the time.
The assertions suggested the individuals bore responsibility for hospitalized patients dying as they were evacuated in the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster as well as causing residents to become exposed to radiation.
Prosecutors concluded it would be difficult to prove criminal responsibility in relation to the lack of adequate measures to deal with the tsunami on the part of TEPCO because experts had not predicted an earthquake and tsunami on the scale that struck on March 11, 2011.
Prosecutors also concluded that individuals could not be held criminally responsible for the manner in which they dealt with the crisis.
Those who submitted the criminal complaints and accusations plan to submit their cases to prosecution inquest panels made up of ordinary citizens in an effort to override the decision by prosecutors not to indict anyone.