FUKUSHIMA--More than 100 volunteers took part in decontamination work on Oct. 29 in Fukushima's Onami district, where relatively high levels of radiation from the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant have been measured.
FUKUSHIMA--More than 100 volunteers took part in decontamination work on Oct. 29 in Fukushima's Onami district, where relatively high levels of radiation from the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant have been measured.
The 108 volunteers, including people from Hokkaido, Osaka and Gifu prefectures as well as the Tokyo metropolitan area, responded to a recruitment drive by Fukushima city, which has started full-fledged decontamination efforts. They collected dead leaves from around local households and added new soil to areas where the topsoil was removed.
"I am a bit nervous, but someone has to do the job," said Etsuro Sato, 32, a former Self-Defense Forces member from Tokyo's Itabashi Ward.
It was the first time he has done decontamination work.
At the opening ceremony held earlier in the day, a city official advised the volunteers in work clothes and carrying gloves and masks: "Never remove your mask. Be careful not to get injured."