The Tokyo High Court has overturned a lower court ruling that ordered four former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to pay approximately ¥13.3 trillion (about $84 billion) in damages over the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The court found that the executives could not have reasonably predicted the massive tsunami that triggered the meltdown. The first-instance Tokyo District Court had previously found the former chairman, Tsunehisa Katsumata (deceased), former president Masataka Shimizu, and former vice presidents Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto liable for the damages, citing scientific assessments that predicted a tsunami of up to 15.7 meters. The High Court, presided over by Judge Toshikazu Kino, ruled that these predictions were not sufficiently reliable to establish legal liability and that the executives were not legally obliged to halt operations or implement further tsunami countermeasures based on the available information. The decision aligns with a recent Supreme Court criminal ruling that acquitted former TEPCO executives of criminal responsibility, similarly finding the long-term seismic risk assessments insufficiently concrete. Judge Kino stated that while the executives bear significant social responsibility, legal accountability could not be imposed under current law. As a result of this ruling, there is no longer a civil judgment recognizing individual legal liability for the disaster among TEPCO's former executives. The burden of compensation for the nuclear accident remains with TEPCO as a corporation, which continues to face financial strain due to compensation and decommissioning costs that have increased to ¥23.4 trillion. The plaintiffs, representing TEPCO shareholders, have announced their intention to appeal to the Supreme Court.