A Japanese court on September 19 ruled that the three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) were not guilty of professional negligence in the 2011 Fukushima meltdown. The three executives, TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, former vice presidents Sakae Muto and and Ichiro Takekuro were to face five years of prison if convicted but the ruling by the Tokyo District Court ended the only criminal trial in the nuclear disaster which had kept tens of thousands of residents away from their homes because of lingering radiation contamination.

'Unjust Sentence'

Many protesters had gathered before the session began and expressed their shock. A group of people reportedly stood outside the court holding placards reading 'unjust sentence'. One woman allegedly said I cannot accept this into a microphone while addressing the rally. The disaster is considered to be the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. The meltdown at the plant was triggered by a 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake which impacted Japan's northeast coast. The earthquake triggered an enormous tsunami which led to the destruction of the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on March 11, 2011.

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However, No one was reportedly killed in the nuclear meltdown, but the tsunami left 18,500 dead or missing. The TEPCO executives faced trial for the deaths of approximately 40 hospitalized patients who died after having to be evacuated following the nuclear disaster. It was allegedly argued that TEPCO could have prevented the disaster if had it stopped the plant to install safety measures ahead of the tsunami. Prosecutors have also reported that the three defendants had access to data that anticipated the risk of a tsunami exceeding 10 meters (30 feet) that could trigger a loss of power and severe accidents. 

The settlements

Several civil lawsuits have been filed against the government and TEPCO. Some district courts have also granted damages to local residents, ordering TEPCO and the government to pay.TEPCO has reportedly spent 9 trillion yen ($83 billion) on compensation related to the disaster and it needs to spend an estimated 8 trillion yen ($74 billion) to decommission the plant and 6 trillion yen ($55 billion) for decontamination. The company has allegedly claimed that it could have been more proactive with safety measures, but that it could not anticipate the massive tsunami that crippled the plant. 

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(With inputs from AP)