information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
1 Avril 2014
April 1, 2014
Evacuation order lifted for Fukushima district
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140401_81.html
The Japanese government lifted its evacuation order on Tuesday for part of a no-entry zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Government officials lifted the order for residents of part of the Miyakoji district of Tamura City.
It is the first time the order has been lifted since the accident at the nuclear plant in March 2011. The decision affects 355 residents in 116 households.
The government says relatively low radiation levels allowed workers to decontaminate the area before other parts of the no-entry zone. They completed the work last June.
Some residents have expressed concern that there may still be small areas of high radiation. The government plans to address their concerns by distributing personal dosimeters and arranging consultations with decontamination experts.
About 81,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the no-entry zone around Fukushima Daiichi.
But a majority of evacuees from an area near the plant say they will stay away from their homes despite the lifting of the evacuation order.
Evacuee Hideyuki Tsuboi said his parents, in their 60s, will return home. But the 36-year-old and his wife plan to remain in temporary housing in the city with their 3 young daughters, and move to Fukushima City next year.
Tsuboi says he cannot choose to return unless living conditions in the district improve sufficiently from a parental viewpoint.
Mitsuru Tsuboi and his wife Mitsu, both 79, plan to leave the temporary housing to move back into their home in Miyakoji this month after some repair work is completed.
They visited their home in a truck carrying their belongings on Tuesday morning, and cleaned the kitchen.
Tsuboi said he was relieved to be able to return home. He said he wants to grow crops and live a self-sufficient life, but is concerned about the effects of radiation.
Apr. 1, 2014 - Updated 12:06 UTC
TAMURA, Fukushima Prefecture--The central government for the first time lifted an evacuation order around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, affecting 360 people, or 0.4 percent of the total population from the evacuation designation zones.
The measure, effective at midnight March 31, covers an eastern strip of Tamura’s Miyakoji district, which falls within a 20-kilometer radius of the nuclear plant.
The official exclusion from the evacuation zone means residents are now free to live in their old homes in the Miyakoji area, but few of them are expected to return immediately to rebuild their communities. Many evacuees have become acclimated to their lives in evacuation shelters, and fears of radiation persist.
The government ordered all residents living within a 20-km radius of the Fukushima plant to evacuate on March 12, 2011, the day after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami set off a triple meltdown at the power plant.
The following month, the government added areas of high radiation levels outside the 20-km radius to the evacuation zone, which was expanded to straddle 11 municipalities.
About 80,000 residents remain evacuated from the designated zones.
Radioactive cleanup operations overseen by the central government were completed in June 2013 in the Miyakoji district. Afterward, residents from the area were allowed to stay in their homes for extended periods if they filed applications with the central government.
The government hopes to lift the evacuation order for a portion of the village of Kawauchi, home to 276 people, in late July. It is also considering lifting evacuation orders at early dates in the municipalities of Katsurao, Nahara, Iitate, Minami-Soma and Kawamata.
However, evacuation zone designations are not likely to be lifted any time soon in Okuma and Futaba, co-hosts of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, and other municipalities that contain many areas of high radiation levels.
Gov't scales down evacuation zones around damaged nuclear plant
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140401p2g00m0dm037000c.html
FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Kyodo) -- The government on Tuesday scaled down areas in Fukushima Prefecture subject to evacuation orders since the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
As of midnight, the government lifted its evacuation order for part of the Miyakoji district in the city of Tamura -- the first case of an evacuation order being lifted on an area within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima plant.
Radiation cleanup activities have been carried out to enable evacuees to return to their homes, but it remains to be seen how many of the 355 residents of 116 households in the area actually opt to move back amid concerns over whether the radiation level is low enough.
Besides Tamura, a total of 10 cities, towns and villages are still subject to evacuation orders. They are located either within a 20-km radius of the plant or in some areas beyond.
The areas have been classified into three categories based on their radiation levels -- a zone where evacuation orders are ready to be lifted, a zone where habitation is restricted and a zone where residents are unlikely to be allowed to return for a long time.
The Miyakoji district was designated as a no-go zone about a month after the nuclear crisis began, but it was categorized as an area ready to be freed from the evacuation order in April 2012.
Evacuees had been allowed to stay overnight at their homes since August last year, but registration was required.
April 01, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
Evacuation order lifted, but majority to stay away
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140401_21.html
A majority of evacuees from an area near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant say they will stay away from their homes despite the lifting of an evacuation order.
The government on Tuesday allowed residents of part of the Miyakoji district in Tamura City, Fukushima Prefecture, to return to their homes. Decontamination work has been completed there.
The order is the first to be lifted for one of the areas surrounding the plant since the nuclear crisis in March 2011.
The move covers 355 people in 116 households as of late March. NHK has found that more than half of them do not plan to return, while some expressed relief to be allowed back.
Evacuee Hideyuki Tsuboi said his parents, in their 60s, will return home. But the 36-year-old and his wife plan to remain in temporary housing in the city with their 3 young daughters, and move to Fukushima City next year.
Tsuboi says he cannot choose to return unless living conditions in the district improve sufficiently from a parental viewpoint.
Mitsuru Tsuboi and his wife Mitsu, both 79, plan to leave the temporary housing to live in their home in Miyakoji this month after repair work is done.
They visited their home in a truck carrying their belongings on Tuesday morning, and cleaned the kitchen.
Tsuboi said he was relieved to be able to return home. He said he wants to grow crops to live a self-sufficient life, but is concerned about effects of radiation.
Apr. 1, 2014 - Updated 06:38 UTC
March 31, 2014
Evacuation order lifted for Fukushima district
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140401_03.html
The Japanese government lifted the evacuation order on a part of no-entry zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Government officials on Tuesday lifted an evacuation order for residents of a part of the Miyakoji district of Tamura City.
It is the first time the order has been lifted since the accident at the nuclear plant in March 2011. The decision affects 355 residents of 116 households.
The government says relatively low radiation levels allowed workers to decontaminate the area before other parts of the no-entry zone. They completed the work last June.
Some residents have expressed concern that there may still be small areas of high radiation. The government plans to address their concerns by distributing personal dosimeters and arranging consultations with decontamination experts.
About 81,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the no-entry zone around Fukushima Daiichi.
Mar. 31, 2014 - Updated 21:43 UTC
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