China
16:00, 30-Jun-2017
Former Tepco executives on trial over Fukushima nuclear disaster
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The trial of three former executives from the operator of Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant kicked off in a Tokyo court on Friday, for their involvement in the worst atomic accident in a generation. It is the first criminal trial over the meltdown of the plant's nuclear reactor triggered by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
According to local media, the three Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) executives all pleaded not guilty to charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury. If convicted, they will face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to one million yen.
The Fukushima disaster was the largest nuclear plant accident since the Chernobyl in 1986. More than six years after the accident, many evacuees still live in other parts of Japan, unable or unwilling to return home for fear of high levels of radiation.