Tokyo - About 7 000 residents near Fukushima prefecture sought compensation on Monday of 1.85 billion yen (15 million dollars) through an out-of-court settlement with the operator of a ravaged Japanese nuclear plant, a report said.
A total of 7 128 people from Tochigi prefecture, located around 100 kilometres south-west of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, argued that they should be eligible for compensation even though they were not living in Fukushima prefecture at the time of the nation’s worst atomic accident, Kyodo News agency reported.
The residents are also demanding an apology.
It is the first collective appeal made by residents who have not been compensated by operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO).
The Fukushima plant suffered a triple meltdown after it was hit by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
“We want TEPCO to take seriously the fact that over 7 000 people raised their voices,” lead lawyer Koji Otani told a news conference.
The Tochigi residents are demanding sums ranging from 120 000 yen to 720 000 yen per person, which is equivalent to the amount awarded to voluntary evacuees in Fukushima, the lawyers said.
DPA