Cooper v. Tokyo Electric Power Holdings

Japan’s Act on Compensation for Nuclear Damage (Compensation Act) established a compensation system to protect parties injured by nuclear damage but also encourage businesses to engage in nuclear development. The Compensation Act stated that a nuclear plant’s operator was strictly liable for damage caused by the plant’s operation, but no other party faced liability. In 2011, an earthquake and tsunami caused significant destruction in Japan, killing approximately 15,000 people. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP), which was operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) (defendant), released over 300 tons of contaminated water into the sea. Hundreds of United States servicemembers (plaintiffs) deployed to Fukushima to help with the humanitarian-relief effort claimed they were exposed to radiation. The servicemembers, some of whom were California residents, filed suit in a federal district court in California. They asserted negligence and strict-products-liability claims against TEPCO and General Electric (GE) (defendant), an American company that manufactured FNPP’s reactors. TEPCO and GE moved to dismiss the suit. GE’s motion argued that GE was not liable because, under California’s choice-of-law rules, which applied in this diversity action, Japanese law governed, and Japan’s Compensation Act rendered TEPCO, FNPP’s operator, the only party liable for damages. The district court granted GE’s motion. The servicemembers appealed.