Tokyo court only holds utility responsible to compensate Fukushima evacuees and reduces damages

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — A Tokyo court has held only the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant responsible for paying damages to dozens of evacuees. And the court slashed the amount to half of what the lower court had ordered and relieved the government of responsibility. It was a decision that plaintiffs and their lawyers criticized as belittling their suffering and the severity of the disaster. The decision on Tuesday comes at a time Japan’s government accelerates reactor restarts to maximize nuclear energy to meet decarbonization targets while seeking to tone down the impact of the nuclear disaster 13 years ago and its memory gradually fades.