Fukushima disaster: prosecutors won't press charges against ex-PM, Tepco

Japanese prosecutors have decided not to press charges against former Prime Minister Naoto Kan or officials of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) in connection with the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster due to lack of criminal responsibility.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office said the officials could not be held responsible as it was difficult to foresee the scale of the earthquake and tsunami, the Japan Times reports.

Prosecutors said they could not find enough evidence to prove that the government and Tepco had failed to take sufficient safety measures after being notified of the risk of earthquakes and tsunami.

The former government and Tepco were also accused of delaying the evacuation of residents around the plant due to which many were exposed to radiation, leading to the deaths of many bedridden hospital patients.

Earlier, about 14,700 people across Japan, mainly in Fukushima Prefecture, had filed complaints against Kan and 41 other individuals for alleged professional negligence responsible for the scale of disaster.

The triple meltdown at the reactors was triggered after the power station lost all its electric power following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011.

Kan, who was prime minister from June 2010 to September 2011, called the prosecutors' decision "a natural outcome."

However, the residents will request for an 11-member independent inquiry panel to review the case, the report added.

The groups said they are now planning to take their case to the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution in Tokyo, where the investigation was handled.