Lawsuit Seeks to Blame GE for Japan’s 2011 Nuclear Power Plant Disaster

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A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed by a group of nine Japanese individuals and businesses against General Electric Company (GE) after its alleged negligence in designing and constructing the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant caused a disastrous nuclear explosion on the east coast of Japan. The suit describes a March 11, 2011 disaster during which an earthquake and the following tsunami flooded the Fukushima plant, resulting in several hydrogen explosions that released radioactive matter into the surrounding area. As a result, the case argues, the plaintiffs and many others suffered great financial harm, the loss of their properties, and the ruin of their businesses.

According to the complaint, GE negligently designed and built the nuclear power plant “well within known tsunami striking range” and failed to equip it with sufficient safeguards that would protect the units from overheating in the event of an emergency. The lawsuit describes multiple backup cooling systems that failed as a result of alleged defects and poor planning, claiming that GE was aware of the design’s inadequacies before building the plant.

The complaint claims the disaster resulted in the evacuation of more than 150,000 people from the surrounding area, the closure of over 1,700 businesses, and a “massive clean-up” with an estimated cost of $200 billion towards which GE “has paid literally nothing.”