The government is compiling a schedule of measures to deal with the accident at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to provide evacuees as well as the international community a better idea of what to expect.
The government is compiling a schedule of measures to deal with the accident at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to provide evacuees as well as the international community a better idea of what to expect.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan is scheduled to attend the Group of Eight summit later this month and is expected to explain what the government is planning to do to stabilize the situation at the Fukushima plant, as well as in rebuilding areas struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
With various hurdles blocking a cold shutdown of the nuclear reactors, the evacuation of residents will likely also become a prolonged process. That has led to calls that the government must present its own schedule of measures to help evacuees.
Sources said the timetable will be formally approved and announced May 17, in line with what is expected to be a revision of a work schedule by Tokyo Electric Power Co., the Fukushima plant operator, for how it plans to stabilize the situation.
TEPCO first announced the work schedule April 17, and had planned to revise it after about a month. Recent measurements at the No. 1 reactor indicating that large amounts of water are leaking from the containment vessel is but one factor that is forcing TEPCO to vastly revise its work schedule.
The government's timetable will outline what is expected to be done in investigating the nuclear accident as well as a rough idea of when certain measures proposed for evacuees will take place.
TEPCO's work schedule was a three-stage process with the first step covering the next several months, the second step covering the subsequent three to six months and the third step for more medium-term measures.
The government's timetable will also follow that three-stage process.
The government will conduct its investigation of the nuclear accident independent of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Both the government and IAEA plan to release the results of their separate investigations at a Cabinet-level meeting of the IAEA scheduled to be held between June 20-24.
The government will also set up a separate special committee made up of about 10 nuclear energy experts to look into the cause of the accident as well as measures to prevent a recurrence. An interim report from the special committee is expected by the end of the year.
Under the topic of evacuation from the no-entry zone established within a 20-km radius of the Fukushima plant, evacuees will be able to drive out their cars from late May. Until then, evacuees will be allowed to return to their homes for a few hours to gather valuables.
Plans call for a second round of such short returns home.
Residents in the areas outside of the 20-km radius where a more gradual evacuation will be undertaken will have to leave by late May. Those evacuees will receive support for business activities in the areas where they temporarily settle.
In all those areas, monitoring of radiation levels will be conducted in the medium term to determine if the evacuation orders can be lifted.
Evacuees and residents will be given health checks in May. Later, children and other residents will also have their health monitored over the long term.
Workers from public health offices around Japan have been sent to evacuation centers to check on evacuees. A telephone hotline for those worried about the effects from radiation has been set up as well as counseling by psychiatrists.
Regarding compensation for disaster victims, the government's timetable calls for provisional payments by TEPCO to evacuees as well as business owners. A fuller compensation program is expected once legislation is passed to establish a framework providing support for TEPCO as it makes compensation payments.
Like TEPCO's work schedule, the government's timetable will likely have to be revised over time depending on the progress made in resolving the situation at the Fukushima plant.