Hundreds of residents and evacuees from just outside Fukushima Prefecture say they have been unfairly denied full compensation despite high radiation levels in their area caused by nuclear disaster in 2011.
Hundreds of residents and evacuees from just outside Fukushima Prefecture say they have been unfairly denied full compensation despite high radiation levels in their area caused by nuclear disaster in 2011.
Nearly 700 residents from the Hippo district of Miyagi prefecture, just north of Fukushima, are demanding equal compensation to the residents of Fukushima prefecture where the accident occurred.
They demanded on May 21 that the nuclear plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., pay them an additional 70 million yen ($690,000) in damages from the meltdowns and radiation fallout at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
They say that some radiation levels in their area top those in Fukushima Prefecture.
The government's basic compensation scheme only covers Fukushima residents. About 150,000 Fukushima residents are still displaced. Hundreds of them have filed separate claims seeking greater compensation.