The first criminal trials relating to the Fukushima nuclear disaster have begun, six years since the triple reactor meltdown.<br /><br />Former residents evacuated from the stricken zone are taking the energy company Tepco to court. Some lost everything they possessed, <br />many lost loved ones, and their case is based on the fact that Tepco never took into account the possible effects of a tsunami on the reactors at the site. <br /><br /><br /><br />“We believe that there should have been thorough countermeasures put in place to protect against a tsunami, and there should have been a clear<br />understanding of that within Tokyo Electric too. I want to know how and why this was being neglected,” said the president of the Fukushima Nuclear <br />Disaster Plaintiffs Ruiko Muto.<br /><br />Fukushima evacuees’ housing units crumbling https://t.co/kizPxfmoak [ The Japan Times ][ fukushima minpo ] #fukushima— FukushimaMnpo_bot (@FukushimaMnpo_b) 21 juin 2017<br /><br /><br />More than 160,000 people had to be evacuated and 44 people lost their lives during the operation, although none officially died because of radiation.<br />Three defendants, the Tepco group president in charge of the plant and two vice-presidents, are accused of negligence. All three have pleaded not guilty.<br /><br />Fukushima loses first high school to meltdowns https://t.co/wQyNdbL9dI [ The Japan Times ][ fukushima minpo ] #fukushima— FukushimaMnpo_bot (@FukushimaMnpo_b) 21 juin 2017<br /><br /><br />The trial is not expected to finish before the end of the year.<br /><br />#FUKUSHIMA Test to stop one of many #water #leakages conducted in Fukushima nuclear extremely radioactive water-parkhttps://t.co/MqNxaGcysp pic.twitter.com/KTth6Di5MD— Fredi Terés (@FrediTeres) 28 juin 2017<br />
