A Japanese high court on Thursday ordered the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to pay damages to evacuated residents, but it overturned a lower court ruling that had also acknowledged the central government's responsibility over the 2011 nuclear crisis.
Among around 30 such lawsuits across the country, the decision of the
In
The court said the disaster was caused by a failure to cool nuclear fuel as water entered turbine buildings through air supply openings in the wake of the tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake, crippling emergency switchboards.
The lawsuit was filed by a total of 137 plaintiffs relocated to
They were forced to leave their hometowns as three reactors suffered meltdowns at the plant after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit northeastern
The plaintiffs said they had lost their livelihoods and faced inconvenience for an extensive period, and the amount they received under the current state compensation guidelines was not enough.
==Kyodo
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