Evacuees' skepticism

May 22, 2015

Nuclear disaster evacuees voice doubts about LDP recovery plan

Evacuee Miyoko Matsumoto sits down in a temporary dwelling in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 21, 2015. (Mainichi)

Evacuees of the Fukushima nuclear disaster have voiced skepticism over a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) plan to lift evacuation recommendations for all but the most heavily contaminated areas by March 2017, questioning whether decontamination will have advanced sufficiently by then.

The plan would lift evacuation recommendations for all areas except those with the most severe designation by March 2017. Compensation for emotional stress of 100,000 yen per month per resident would continue to be paid across the board until one year after that.

Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture, could have its evacuation recommendation lifted as early as this summer. Under the current system, compensation to its residents would end next summer, but if the LDP plan is adopted, compensation would be extended for as long as a year and a half.

Miyoko Matsumoto, 84, who evacuated from Naraha to adjacent Iwaki, lives alone in temporary housing.

"I am glad that the compensation will be extended, but money is not the only reason that I cannot go back," she says.

While she wants to return to her hometown, her home there was badly damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake and needs to be rebuilt. However, with construction workers busy rebuilding the area, she doesn't know when her turn will come. She adds, "If the neighbors don't come back with me, I won't be able to live there, as my legs and back are weak."

Another evacuee, Fumitaka Kanazawa, 58, fled with his family from the town of Namie to the city of Fukushima.

"Will the evacuation recommendation really be lifted by March 2017?" he asked doubtfully.

Under the decontamination plan for Namie, removal of radioactive materials is scheduled to be completed by March 2017, but that is three years behind the initial schedule.

"They probably timed the lifting of evacuation recommendations and the end of compensation payments to lessen the financial burden on Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)," he says.

The LDP plan states that "for the two years through the end of next fiscal year, the national government will guide TEPCO into providing proper compensation" for businesses and industries affected by the nuclear disaster. For the period after that, however, it only states, "We will react appropriately according to individual circumstances."

Mikiko Matsumoto, 64, used to run a craft store with her family in the village of Katsurao, which is also subject to an evacuation recommendation. The business had continued for over 100 years.

"Now I am getting by on compensation payments, but what will I do if they end?" she asks. Although she wants to reopen her store in the old location, there will likely only be a limited number of residents who return to the village.

"I can't receive compensation forever, but it is obvious that sales will be lower than before the disaster," she says.

Katsurao Mayor Masahide Matsumoto comments, "Not everyone will come back, so many people will see fewer sales than before if they resume business here. Support will be needed for some time even after residents return."