Japan’s power company ordered to pay damages to Fukushima disaster victims

ISTANBUL 

Japan’s Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Tokoyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) should pay damages to the victims of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

In its ruling, the court ordered TEPCO to pay $12 million to about 3,600 people “whose lives were seriously affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster,” according to Kyodo News.

The order came on an appeal filed by the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. All the four judges unanimously turned down the appeal.

However, the court has yet to decide on the state's responsibility in the nuclear accident. A bench of judges will hear the case next month.

The six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi plant on the Pacific coast was flooded by tsunami waves exceeding 10 meters (32 feet) triggered by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011 causing the reactor cooling systems to lose their power supply.

It was the world's worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl crisis.