Around 1,300 people, mainly from Fukushima Prefecture, filed a criminal complaint Monday against Tokyo Electric Power Co. Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and 32 others, arguing they were responsible for causing the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and the plaintiffs' exposure to radiation.
In the complaint filed with the Fukushima District Public Prosecutor's Office, the accusers say the 33 people, including former Tepco President Masataka Shimizu and Nuclear Safety Commission chief Haruki Madarame, neglected to take disaster countermeasures despite the frequency of earthquakes in Japan and indications by experts of the possibility of tsunami.
They say the failure to promptly announce fallout data from the System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information, or SPEEDI, "hindered evacuation of the residents (around the Fukushima complex) and expanded their radiation exposure."
The criminal complaint also refers to the people who died while evacuating or working at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, accusing the defendants of professional negligence resulting in death and injury.