Katsumata took charge of TEPCO’s emergency response after the Fukushima Daiichi plant was hit by a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011, leading to a triple meltdown. He served as chairman from 2002 to 2008, a period marked by significant challenges, including the utility’s first major data cover-up scandal.
Following the disaster, Katsumata became one of the high-profile defendants in both criminal and civil lawsuits, which sought to hold TEPCO’s management accountable for their alleged negligence in addressing the risks posed by natural disasters. In 2012, nearly 6,000 residents of Fukushima filed a criminal complaint, accusing Katsumata and other former TEPCO executives of professional negligence that contributed to the deaths of over 40 elderly patients during the forced evacuations after the meltdown.
While prosecutors ultimately withdrew the case, Katsumata and two other former officials were found guilty in 2016 in a separate civil suit brought by citizens, making it the only criminal case related to the Fukushima disaster to go to trial. They maintained their innocence, arguing that predicting such a tsunami was impossible. A district and high court later acquitted them, but the matter is currently pending before the Supreme Court.
Katsumata also faced a civil lawsuit from a group of TEPCO shareholders, resulting in a 2022 Tokyo district court ruling that ordered him and three other former executives to pay damages exceeding 13 trillion yen (approximately $85 billion). This case remains under review by the Tokyo High Court.
In addition to his role at TEPCO, Katsumata held prominent positions within various business organizations, such as the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), exerting significant influence over Japanese politics and industry throughout his career. He joined TEPCO in 1963, and his leadership during critical times shaped the utility’s approach to corporate governance and crisis management.
More than 13 years after the disaster, efforts continue to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi plant—a complex and decades-long process still in its early stages. In recent months, TEPCO has struggled to retrieve a small amount of melted fuel debris from one of the damaged reactors using remote-controlled technology. Achieving this task would represent a major milestone in developing the necessary techniques to analyze and eventually remove the remaining 880 tons of melted fuel debris from the plant.
As the legacy of Tsunehisa Katsumata remains intertwined with the Fukushima disaster, the impact of his leadership and the ongoing recovery efforts at the nuclear plant will continue to resonate within Japan and beyond.
