Awarding damages to people who fled their homes following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Chiba District Court ruled late last month that the plaintiffs are entitled to compensation for the loss of their hometowns in the catastrophe — the first ruling of its kind.
That should be good news for people who had to evacuate their hometowns in the nuclear fiasco. The Chiba court decision was only the second ruling to be handed down in a series of nearly 30 damages suits filed with 20 courts across the nation, involving more than 12,000 plaintiffs, against Tokyo Electric Power Holdings Co. and the government.
However, the ruling marked a setback from another decision handed down by the Maebashi District Court in March — in that it spared the national government of its responsibility for damages, saying it was not guilty of serious negligence.