Prosecutors won't indict former TEPCO execs over Fukushima disaster

This will probably all be decided on the golf course or in a drinking establishment. Methinks these three will be okay.

This is the saddest news of the year. No one is responsible for the gigantic disaster at the nuclear plant? Gone are the days in Japan when someone would committ harakiri to take responsibility. That traditional way of taking responsibility now belongs in our book of legends.

So, now that the government is tryng to restart other nuclear plants it will be easier to make decisions as no one will be held responsible. Good Deal and Banzai for Japan's bureaucrats.

This is the saddest news of the year. No one is responsible for the gigantic disaster at the nuclear plant?

Criminally? No.

A bit like the political leader who sets up his own panel to investigate himself over allegations of corruption, only to find there is "insufficient evidence" to support the claim.

People power is the best way of resolving this. Not fighting cancer with cancer. But if you hope that will happen in Japan, please think again. Silence yourself, and go back to the excellent, high quality TV we provide and Christmas leftovers for you!

An indictment will never happen because it will set a precedent that the highest executives of Japanese corporations are responsible for poor decisions and sometimes criminal behavior that leads to people losing their lives.

I am surprised all of Japanese major medias have NOT taken this news...

@ Yukiho Kinugawa

I am surprised all of Japanese major medias have NOT taken this news...

It's exactly what I expected from the Japanese media. They don't have the collective spines to run a story like this. Just keep that "squeaky clean, rainbows and lollipops" facade alive...

It's exactly what I expected from the Japanese media. They don't have the collective spines to run a story like this. Just keep that "squeaky clean, rainbows and lollipops" facade alive...

"...... the Yomiuri newspaper and Kyodo news agency said..."

Third paragraph.

In my mind it was not so much the handling of the disaster, but the corner cutting before the earthquake and the tsunami that led to the disaster. They ignored data on past tsunami to save themselves some cash. The are criminals and should be in jail.

Nobody went to jail for the Minamata disaster either. Steal ten yen from a shrine and go to jail for a year. Cause a nuclear disaster through neglect and mismanagement that effects the lives of tens of millions of people and get off free. さすが! Japan Inc. rules!

Gone are the days in Japan when someone would committ harakiri to take responsibility. That traditional way of taking responsibility now belongs in our book of legends.

mito -- while I share your sentiment about no one taking responsibility in Japan anymore, I think seppuku has out-lived its usefullness. But, the way corporate malfeasance is simply swept under the rug in Japan by the judicial system is an insult to the public. As is the phony bowing and apologizing.

Of course they won't.

This is how Japan survives, charge the little people, the easy targets, pat your com-iver buddies on the back. It's all pathetic and predictable, not worthy of being called a democratic society. But this is what they want, the Japanese. They choose it and they deserve it.

Yep, as predicted, but still disgusting, what on earth do people who run these isles have to do to get jail time??

Apparently we have yet to find out but it must pretty god awful if tepco "management" can get off scott free OMG!

When will the Japanese push for their govt etc to take responsibility, my guess is never, its pervasive no one is responsible for anything, UNLESS its something good then everyone possible steps up to the light.

Like so many problems in Japan its up to the Japanese if they don't care why on earth should I!

The rot continues unabated folks, expect another depressing year in 2015!

Prosecutors won't indict...

But I have.

Outside of the bill, TEPCO, keep clear of my door.

Yukiho Kinugawa DEC. 27, 2014 - 09:05AM JST I am surprised all of Japanese major medias have NOT taken this news...

It is absolutely frightening! Though last week they aired a drama about the meltdown on NHK.

A lawyers charter, where will the ambulance stop, with the Minsters responsible at the time, or perhaps the emergency services for failing to save lives, the local authorities for failing to provide coherent emergency evacuation measures, the current Government for failing local citizens in speeding the essential funds for clear up and resettlement. TEPCO board and executive management has to voluntarily step down and resign, swords need to be fallen on, to allow a commission to restructure the industry from the ground up.

itsonlyrocknrollDEC. 27, 2014 - 11:32AM JST A lawyers charter, where will the ambulance stop, with the Minsters responsible at the time, or perhaps the emergency services for failing to save lives, the local authorities for failing to provide coherent emergency evacuation measures, the current Government for failing local citizens in speeding the essential funds for clear up and resettlement. TEPCO board and executive management has to voluntarily step down and resign, swords need to be fallen on, to allow a commission to restructure the industry from the ground up.

Yes! That is how it should be done. Thank you for putting it in such clear words... But what will happen?

The extend of shadiness exhibited in the Fukushima accident is the absolute pinnacle of a business that is already shady to begin with. Still any leadership with some basic ethics and selfrespect left would have reacted more effectively. Even just to save face in front the international community. But around these parts nobody gives a f... Maybe there is just nobody to be convinced about anything anymore?! Only in Japan...

Timcam,

In my mind it was not so much the handling of the disaster, but the corner cutting before the earthquake and the tsunami that led to the disaster. They ignored data on past tsunami to save themselves some cash. The are criminals and should be in jail.

They did not ignore data on previous tsunamis, and in fact were due to report on studies of previous tsunamis in March 2011 - but the disaster got in the way.

Star-Viking: "They did not ignore data on previous tsunamis, and in fact were due to report on studies of previous tsunamis in March 2011 - but the disaster got in the way."

Yes, they clearly ignored warnings and evidence that this has happened before, and STILL say things like "unprecedented disaster" and "it could not have been known", etc. What's more, have you forgotten the meeting TEPCO had behind close doors, where they of COURSE forgot to record the minutes, that they themselves admitted it could happen and were going to warn each other? (convenient, and again no record of any of it being said at the secret meeting).

Please PLEASE let this panel choose to force an indictment. These criminals have been hiding behind the Old Boys system in Japan long enough -- and they are criminally responsible.

Well, it's very hard to do your job, when you are being paid to not do it.

smithinjapan

Star-Viking: "They did not ignore data on previous tsunamis, and in fact were due to report on studies of previous tsunamis in March 2011 - but the disaster got in the way."

Yes, they clearly ignored warnings and evidence that this has happened before.

And yet, when one of the leading researchers on the subject of the Jogon Tsunami studied what that tsunami could have told us about the 2011 one he found:

"The differences between the postulated Jogan and Tohoku-oki events are large; the magnitude of energy released by the Tohoku-oki earthquake is nearly 8–10 times larger than that by the Jogan earthquake. The fault slip, which in part determines earthquake magnitude, of the Jogan event was too small to predict that an earthquake with the magnitude of the Tohoku-oki event would occur".

That's from: "Assessing the magnitude of the 869 Jogan tsunami using sedimentary deposits: Prediction and consequence of the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami", by Daisuke Sugawara et al.

I suspect research like this would collapse any trial of TEPCO executives.

Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0037073812002199

It isn't you, and it isn't me. It's the man behind the tree.

And that man is not Japanese.

Prosecutors got some "Christmas presents" from TEPCO and co.

The largest ongoing escape of radiation that is still ONGOING and nobody is to blame????

What utter nonsense is that!

Same old story when it involves corruption and elites, some things never change. I would check bank accounts, family accounts, offshore accounts and real property records of each higher up in the Prosecutors office and Gov officials within the Ministers offices to find the money trail. Obviously there is one in this kind of case. Somewhere along the lines in some upscale elevated tea room an anonymous gift envelope or box was given by the TEPCO execs. Once again white collar crime proves that it works even in a foreign country.

Why not? I'm sorry, but this is a very sad day for Japanese decency — not to mention justice.

In relation to this article, we must remember that the Kan cabinet of DPJ party declined USA’s offer of support during the accident of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, since the support had required the nuclear reactors to be decommissioned. At that time, none of the Japanese persons who are called nuclear engineering specialists anticipated the severity of the accident partly because of the lack of information. But if Japan had accepted the offer, the current situation could have changed in a better direction. I think the TEPCO's executives should be responsible for the consequences. but who is the most responsible?

tbtdweller-san, the answer is General Electric. It was their outdated system and due to the usual "buy USA products" pressure and prevailing atmosphere set by Amakudari ex-bureaucrats guarding TEPCO, disaster was only a matter of time.

Woah woah there Mitoko, you can't blame the customer for buying the product unless it is seriously flawed/recalled.

It is the customer's responsibility to do the research and choose a product based on that information.

That is to say, I can't blame Toyota if I don't do regular maintenance on my Vitz and it breaks down. The manual and recommendations were all there, and that particular reactor/system is functioning fine in other plants.

Also, to be fair, it looks like TEPCO did indeed do research and shop around as only 3 of the 6 reactors (2 of the first 4 that had meltdowns) are GE; the others are from Toshiba and Hitachi.

Star-viking: Yes that study says (at least as far as I can read without purchasing it) that the 2011 quake was larger than was expected, but it's also true that such modelers ignored historical evidence. See:

http://www.livescience.com/39110-japan-2011-earthquake-tsunami-facts.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/world/asia/21stones.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Protection against natural disasters is in reality affected by risk vs cost, but when dealing with nuclear plants it's not unreasonable to expect a much much higher standard of care. Hence, sticking your head in the ground and ignoring previous physical data just because it "doesn't fit the model" is a bit too cavalier in my opinion.

Likewise, the NZ Christchurch earthquake which happened one month before the Tohoko quake, was so bad because 1) it was the first rupture of that fault since humans settled there, so no surface evidence of that fault line existed and 2) it was later determined to be a once in 2,500+ year quake. Lesson: expect the unexpected.

On an unrelated note, I hear that tepco actually had reserve generators within a few hours drive of the Fukushima plant, but didn't even know about it until later that year due to sheer incompetence. And so they brought over generators all the way from the USA instead (post-meltdown). For that alone someone's head needs chopping for sure.

Apologies, my line

Woah woah there Mitoko, you can't blame the customer for buying the product unless it is seriously flawed/recalled.

Should have been "Company for selling the product"; I rewrote that and didn't double check myself. Sorry.

Hi warausalesman, Whenever I read about the energy companies and there record on safety it does not inspire confidence. When courts and lawyers are subsequently involved months drag into years as the weight of litigation frustrates any possibility of closure for families affected by devastation from the disaster.

Mlodinow,

Star-viking: Yes that study says (at least as far as I can read without purchasing it) that the 2011 quake was larger than was expected, but it's also true that such modelers ignored historical evidence.

Your first link talks about warnings of recurrent earthquakes. As the paper I reference says, the last one was too weak to provide warning of March 11 2011.

Your second link refers to the tsunami stones of the Sanriku Coast of Northern Miyagi and Iwate. The coastline there channels tsunami waves to great heights. Nothing to do with Fukushima.

Wow. Just... wow.

mitokomonalex-san, I don't agree with you. There is reactor coolant among support offers from USA, which knew Japan would come short of it soon. But Japan declined the offer because the coolant is for reactors to be decommissioned. I know sea water was used to cool reactors, but coolabirity is different. You say,''disaster was only a matter of time.' But I think there might have been a turning point to heaven or hell in time span. It was too late to determine the reactors should be decommissioned. And it has nothing to do with what you call GE's outdated system.

They have created a hero out of Mr Y who allegedly prevented a larger disaster from happening. Actually the guy was partly responsible for the disaster: he had been instrumental in the construction of the nuclear plant. As the director of the power station, he could have done much better before 3/11.

In other news, the giant vampire squid(s) who wrecked the global economy, as well as Dick Cheney and his legion of torturers will go unpunished. But if you make a kayak shaped like your vagina or smoke some herbs...

Tonttu2012,

The first reactor at Daiichi went online in 1971, the last in 1979. Masao Yoshida was born in 1955. Hard to see how someone who was around 16 when the plant was started-up, and 24 when it was complete, could be "instrumental in the construction of the plant".

Star-viking, try reading the whole article, not just the headline. And tsunami in that area all occur from the same fault line. It just depends which part of the fault slips, so yes, Iwate & Miyagi are HIGHLY relevant. I'm beginning to think you don't know the first thing about earthquakes...

Here is a simple fault line map that I hope even you can understand :)

http://climatereview.net/ChewTheFat/?p=100

Mlodinow,

Star-viking, try reading the whole article, not just the headline. And tsunami in that area all occur from the same fault line. It just depends which part of the fault slips, so yes, Iwate & Miyagi are HIGHLY relevant. I'm beginning to think you don't know the first thing about earthquakes...

I'm beginning to think you don't know the first thing about Tohoku, or tsunamis. The narrow inlets in Iwate and Northern Miyagi channel tsunami waves to great heights - the rest of the Pacific Coast of Tohoku does not have this effect. That is why the Sanriku Coast had run-ups of over 30 metres.

Here is a simple fault line map that I hope even you can understand :)

http://climatereview.net/ChewTheFat/?p=100

Fault lines? You mean all those earthquakes I've been thought over the past 10 years in Tohoku were caused by fault lines? Well I never! I just thought there were heavy goods vehicles passing by...