The government plans to lift the mandatory evacuation order for Naraha, allowing residents to return to the town hit hard by the Fukushima nuclear disaster as early as spring 2015, the Naraha mayor said.
The government plans to lift the mandatory evacuation order for Naraha, allowing residents to return to the town hit hard by the Fukushima nuclear disaster as early as spring 2015, the Naraha mayor said.
“The minimum required conditions (for returning) are being met,” Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto said at a news conference in Fukushima Prefecture on May 29.
Almost all of the town was designated a mandatory evacuation zone after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami triggered the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011.
In March, Naraha completed decontamination work in its residential areas. The town now has a population of 7,500.
Residents and administrative offices were forced to evacuate from seven towns and villages in Fukushima Prefecture following the disaster. The mayor’s announcement is the first time a return date has been given for these areas.
Matsumoto said the Naraha town government is considering permitting short stays by the end of the fiscal year for evacuees who hope to return home after the evacuation order is lifted.
However, some residents and town assembly members are cautious about returning at the earliest possible dates.
Radiation levels remain high in some areas of the town, and houses and other buildings are still in ruins.
Moreover, those who return will no longer be eligible for consolation money from Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, one year after the evacuation order is lifted.
Matsumoto said the municipality will postpone the return if the needed conditions are not met.
The Abe Cabinet finalized reconstruction acceleration guidelines for Fukushima Prefecture late last year that promise to provide additional compensation for evacuees who return to their homes within a year of lifting evacuation orders.