A Japanese court has found four former executives from the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant responsible for the 2011 nuclear disaster.
The senior managers were sued by shareholders of the nuclear power plant that was hit by a tsunami in 2011, a natural disaster that caused the deaths of 18,000 people and wiped entire towns off the map.
According to the shareholders, the disaster could have been prevented had Tepco bosses exercised due care and carried out preventative measures such as placing an emergency power source on higher ground. The 2012 civil lawsuit demanded that five former Tepco executives pay the beleaguered company 22 trillion yen in compensation for ignoring warnings of a possible tsunami.
The case was decided yesterday (Tuesday July 12) by a Tokyo court, which ordered the executives to pay a fine of around 13 trillion yen (£80bn) in damages, according to local media.
"Warnings have to be issued that, if you make wrong decisions...