TEPCO ex-chair at time of Fukushima nuclear disaster dies at 84 while on trial over responsibility

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' former chairperson, who led the emergency response after a meltdown at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and was accused of being responsible for failing to prevent the disaster as top management, has died, with his trials still pending. He was 84.

Tsunehisa Katsumata died on Oct. 21, TEPCO said Thursday, without providing further details including the cause of his death.

Katsumata was TEPCO chair when Fukushima Daiichi was hit by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 and suffered triple meltdowns. He led the emergency response after the company's then-president stepped down due to health problems and served until mid-2012.

He later became one of the defendants in high-profile criminal and civil lawsuits seeking TEPCO management's responsibility over their alleged failure to anticipate the massive quake and tsunami and to take preventive measures.

Nearly 6,000 Fukushima residents in 2012 filed the criminal complaint, accusing several former TEPCO executives, including Katsumata, of professional negligence in the death of more than 40 elderly patients during or after forced evacuations in the aftermath of the meltdown, which released large amounts of radiation to the surroundings.

After prosecutors dropped the case, Katsumata and two other former executives were indicted in 2016 by a citizens' inquest of prosecution and forced to stand trial in the only criminal case related to the Fukushima disaster.

Katsumata and two co-defendants pleaded not guilty, saying predicting the tsunami was impossible, and were acquitted in the district and high court rulings. The case is now pending at the Supreme Court.

Katsumata also faced a civil trial filed by a group of TEPCO shareholders and was ordered by the Tokyo District Court in 2022 to pay damages exceeding 13 trillion yen ($85 trillion) with three other former executives. The case is pending at Tokyo High Court.

Katsumata, who was president of TEPCO from 2002 to 2008, was also in charge of damage control and pushing corporate governance following the utility's earlier data coverup scandal. He joined TEPCO in 1963.

As head of the powerful utility, Katsumata also served key posts in business organizations, such as Keidanren, and had major influence over Japanese politics and industry.

Today, more than 13 years after the accident, Fukushima Daiichi is being decommissioned — a decades-long process that is still at an early stage.

In recent months, TEPCO has struggled to get a first tiny amount of melted fuel debris from one of the three damaged reactors using a remote-controlled robo t. If successful, the sample's return would be a milestone that could contribute to further research into analyzing the melted fuel and developing necessary technology to remove the 880 tons of melted fuel debris that remain inside the three reactors.

FILE - Tokyo Electric Power Co., (TEPCO) Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata speaks during a news conference at the company's headquarters in Tokyo, Sunday, April 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)

FILE - Former Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata arrives at Tokyo District Court in Tokyo Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019. (Satoru Yonemaru/Kyodo News via AP, File)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas has purchased land for $2.95 million to build a new prison that officials hope will ease a backlog of state inmates in county jails, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and corrections officials announced Thursday.

The state announced it had purchased 815 acres (330 hectares) in Charleston, located about 106 miles (170 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. The state Board of Corrections must approve the prison site before construction can begin.

“This new facility will help end our failed system of catch-and-early-release, and protect our communities by keeping violent offenders off our streets,” Sanders said in a news release. "For Charleston, Franklin County, and the River Valley, it will offer hundreds of permanent, recession-proof jobs and millions of dollars in investment.”

Prison officials have not given a total estimate on how much the new prison will cost or when they hope to begin construction. Sanders, a Republican, called for 3,000 new prison beds and lawmakers set aside $330 million for that last year. An additional $75 million that was originally intended for the expansion of a prison unit is also available for the project.

About 2,500 state inmates are currently housed in county jails.

Corrections officials said that once the new prison is build, it will employ nearly 800 people at an average salary of more than $46,600.

“I have been proud to work with Governor Sanders to address the longstanding issues facing our corrections system and am grateful for her bold action to tackle Arkansas’ prison bed shortage with this new facility,” Arkansas Board of Corrections Chairman Benny Magness said in a statement. “This facility demonstrates all our commitment to building a better prison system and a safer state.”

Sanders last year signed changes to the state's sentencing laws that eliminated parole eligibility for certain violent offenses. Critics have said the changes could further burden an already overcrowded prison system.

The prison project is moving forward a year after Sanders tangled publicly with the Board of Corrections over control of the state prison system. An Arkansas judge last year blocked a law that took away the board's authority over the state corrections secretary and other top officials. The board had challenged the law, arguing that it violated the state constitution.

The state has appealed the ruling against the law, and the case is pending before the Arkansas Supreme Court.

FILE - Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks after taking the oath of office, Jan. 10, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Will Newton, File)