The Legal Aftershocks of Fukushima

The Legal Aftershocks of Fukushima

"x x x.

To observers from more litigious societies, the fact that the catastrophe at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant has yet to spawn a massive lawsuit has been well-nigh impossible to comprehend.

That may be about to change.

A group of shareholders has said it will launch a derivative suit against the corporate directors of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) if it is not satisfied with a report from the company explaining why it chose not to sue those directors itself. The 42 shareholders claim that the directors failed to raise the height of tsunami barriers that would have protected the plant, in spite of a 2008 report warning that a quake at sea could trigger a destructive tsunami. If the suit goes ahead, the group plans to ask for $72 billion, which would be the largest civil damages claim in Japanese history.

There is no real chance of collecting that much. The suit is expected to target fewer than 60 former and current Tepco directors, and the lawyer behind the prospective case, Hiroyuki Kawai of Tokyo's Sakura Kyodo Law Offices, acknowledges those being targeted certainly do not have anything near the amount he is planning to demand.

But Kawai, who asks a reporter if a $72 billion damages request would make his the largest claim ever in the world -- it wouldn't -- is looking to the suit mainly to draw attention to the suffering of the Fukushima victims and the continuing dangers of nuclear power. He says a central aim of his lawsuit is to prevent the plant from reopening and to discourage the use of nuclear energy in Japan in general. "[Carbon dioxide] is better than radiation," he says.

x x x."