FOUR YEARS AFTER: Fukushima town to remove iconic nuclear advertising signboards

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FUTABA, Fukushima Prefecture--Two signboards that extoll the virtues of nuclear energy are to be removed from this deserted town that co-hosts the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

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37.421065, 141.032749
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141.032749
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By TAKURO NEGISHI/ Staff Writer
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By TAKURO NEGISHI/ Staff Writer
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FOUR YEARS AFTER: Fukushima town to remove iconic nuclear advertising signboards
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FUTABA, Fukushima Prefecture--Two signboards that extoll the virtues of nuclear energy are to be removed from this deserted town that co-hosts the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The signboards hanging across streets in the town center to welcome visitors are an ironic reminder of the devastating effects of the nuclear accident.

But the reason they are being taken down is because they are brittle and could fall and hit people or passing cars, municipal government sources said.

The town government installed the two signboards in 1988 and 1991. One reads, “Nuclear energy is the energy of a bright future” and the other says, “Nuclear energy (will lead to) regional development and a prosperous future.”

Nearly all of the town was designated as a difficult-to-return zone after all residents evacuated in the aftermath of the triple meltdown at the Fukushima plant triggered by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Residents are allowed to return for brief visits periodically, but radiation levels remain too high for workers to spend the necessary time to fix the signs.

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