原発強制起訴 検証の重要な機会だ

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 1
EDITORIAL: Fukushima disaster trial offers chance to reveal TEPCO's organizational woes
（社説）原発強制起訴　検証の重要な機会だ

A case concerning responsibility for the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant will be brought to court.
　甚大な被害をもたらした福島第一原発事故の責任が、司法の場で問われることになった。

Three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the plant, face a trial over the nuclear crisis triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Court-appointed lawyers serving as prosecutors filed indictments with the Tokyo District Court on Feb. 29 against the three former executives on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury.
　東京電力の勝俣恒久元会長ら当時の幹部３人がきのう、業務上過失致死傷罪で強制起訴された。

Former TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 75, and two former vice presidents are accused of failing to implement sufficient safety measures against tsunami. A number of patients at hospitals in the vicinity of the plant died in the subsequent evacuation and workers were injured at the plant.
事前の津波対策を怠り、原発周辺の入院患者を死亡させたなどと起訴状は指摘している。

The mandatory indictments reflect public criticisms and suspicions concerning the nuclear accident.
　あの事故を「想定外」で片付け、誰の責任も問わぬままでいいのか。

Many citizens have taken a dim view of the fact that nobody has been held accountable for the nuclear accident, which the company claims was “beyond expectation.” TEPCO’s profit-oriented policy is also believed to be behind the failure to take sufficient safety measures at the plant.
東電は利益優先で原発の安全対策を怠ったのではないか――。そうした市民の疑念を反映した強制起訴である。

Such huge accidents are caused by a complicated confluence of factors. There is inevitably a limit to what the trial of the former TEPCO executives can do in terms of clarifying the whole picture of the disaster. The trial will be focused on the three individuals’ criminal liability for negligence from the viewpoint of the law and evidence.
　巨大事故は、さまざまな要因が複雑に絡みあって起きる。絞られた争点で元幹部ら個人の過失責任を「法と証拠」に照らして問う法廷は、全容解明の場としては、おのずと限界がある。

Still, the trial can reveal important facts about the information the former executives had before the accident and the decisions they made in responding to the information.
　それでも、元幹部が事故前にどんな情報を得ていて、どんな判断をしたかは、これまで十分に明らかになっていない重要なパーツだ。

We also hope the trial will shed light on problems with the organization and corporate culture of a large utility operating many nuclear reactors so that important lessons can be gleaned.
原発を抱える電力会社の組織の在り方や企業風土にも光を当て、教訓がくみ取れる裁判になることを期待する。

After residents and citizens groups filed a criminal complaint, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office decided not to indict the former executives, citing the difficulty in predicting such an accident.
　この事故では告発を受けた東京地検が「今回のような規模の津波は予見できなかった」と不起訴にしたが、

But a committee for the inquest of prosecution comprising 11 citizens has twice decided that the former TEPCO executives should be prosecuted, triggering the process for forced indictment.
１１人の市民からなる検察審査会が２度にわたって「起訴相当」と議決した。

A report on the accident published by TEPCO in 2012 did not make clear who should be held responsible and what kind of lessons should be learned. The document’s descriptions were vague about many key subjects, especially issues regarding TEPCO’s entire organization, such as the company’s advance assumptions about possible tsunami, steps it had taken against the risk, and how the company handled related information during the crisis.
　１２年に東電が公表した事故報告書は、事前の津波想定とその対応、事故時の情報の扱いなど、組織全体にかかる問題ほど抽象的な記述で、責任や教訓があいまいなままだ。

The Diet-appointed commission tasked with investigating the nuclear accident said the root cause dated back before the disaster.
　国会の事故調査委員会（事故調）は「事故の根源的な原因は震災以前に求められる」と指摘した。

But many questions remain unanswered about how the utility dealt with the risks before the accident.
だが、東電の事前対応に関してはいまも、不明な部分が多い。

Why didn’t TEPCO take stronger measures against the risk of tsunami even though it had estimated a tsunami of up to 15.7 meters could hit the plant? What was the thinking behind this failure to take such measures?
最大１５・７メートルの津波が襲うとの試算を手にしながら、なぜ十分な備えをしなかったのか。どんな判断が働いたのか。

The government’s investigative committee has interviewed around 770 people and disclosed the testimonies of about 200, who have given their consent. But only about 20 of them are former TEPCO executives and other people linked to the utility.
　政府の事故調は約７７０人から聞き取りをし、これまでに同意が得られた約２００人分の調書を公表したが、東電関係者はわずか２０人ほどにとどまる。

We do hope the trial will fill in as many information gaps as possible.
　裁判が大きな空白を少しでも埋めるものになってほしい。

The trial should also provide an opportunity to take a closer look at the roles played by the investigative panels.
　同時に、事故調の役割も改めて考えたい。

All panels established to look into the accident finished their work in about one year, leaving many stones unturned.
いずれの事故調も１年ほどで活動を終え、検証は不十分なままだ。

These panels should scrutinize all relevant factors, including flaws with related organizations, to prevent a recurrence of the disaster. The systems and functions of investigations into nuclear accidents should be expanded and enhanced.
再発防止を目的に関係組織の問題にまで切り込むのが事故調の本来の役割のはずだ。そうした仕組みや機能をもっと充実させるべきだ。

The damaged nuclear reactors that have spewed large amounts of radioactive materials into the environment must be continuously cooled with water. Water contaminated with radioactive substances keeps accumulating at the plant.
　放射性物質をまき散らした原子炉は水で冷やし続けねばならず、汚染水が生じている。

Around 100,000 people are still living away from their homes as evacuees. The nuclear accident has still not been brought under control.
今も約１０万の人々が故郷から避難している。事故は今も続いている。

Obviously, more efforts are needed to draw crucial lessons to ensure nightmarish nuclear accidents will never happen again.
二度と繰り返さない教訓を引き出す努力がもっと必要だ。