More evacuees from the two towns that co-host the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant have given up hope of returning home, a government survey found Dec. 6.
More evacuees from the two towns that co-host the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant have given up hope of returning home, a government survey found Dec. 6.
According to a Reconstruction Agency survey conducted in October, 67.1 percent of respondents from Okuma and 64.7 percent from Futaba said they had decided not to return. Those numbers were up from 42.3 percent and 30.4 percent, respectively, in a January survey, which used slightly different wording.
Nearly all residents of the two towns evacuated from their homes after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
In the latest survey, respondents were asked to choose reasons for their decision not to return home. Multiple choices were allowed.
Seventy-three percent of respondents from Okuma said radiation levels have not fallen. Sixty-eight percent of those from Futaba said it will take too much time before they can return to their hometown.
Only 8.6 percent of respondents from Okuma and 10.3 percent from Futaba said they want to return. Eighteen percent of those in their 70s or older from Futaba said they want to go home.
The survey covered the heads of 5,043 households in Okuma and of 3,394 households in Futaba, and received valid responses from about half.