Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Former TEPCO director Sakae Muto appeared in Tokyo District Court on Friday concerning his role in the action taken when the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant was hit by a tsunami and subsequently blew up 10 years ago.

During the 59th session of the trial that started nine years ago, the defendant was questioned about his knowledge of tsunami prevention measures.

According to witnesses who attended the trials, Muto said he did not read the e-mails or attend the lectures of the Tsunami Working Group, a group of experts responsible for evaluating preventive measures against the occurrence of a major tsunami. The experts sent their conclusions to TEPCO, which was the company in charge of the Fukushima plant.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys, interviewed by Arab News, believe that the reasons Muto stated may be false or else he may not have been aware of the content of these e-mails, both of which, they said, would be a grave situation.

According to witness Nobuo Hamada, the Director General of the Japanese Meteorological Agency in the Department of Seismology and Vulcanology, tsunami data from 1611 and in 1617 was submitted, which suggested that large tsunamis could occur in regular time cycles.