Japanese nuclear evacuees visit homes
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Japan allowed people forced to evacuate from the 20-kilometer no-entry zone around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to briefly return home on Tuesday.
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Evacuees from Kawauchi village wearing protective suits undergo a screening test for signs of nuclear radiation after returning from a brief trip back to their homes inside the restricted zone of a 20 km radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, at a gymnasium in Kawauchi village, about 22 km (14 miles) from the plant in Fukushima prefecture May 10, 2011. [Photo/Agencies] |
It was the first organized return trip since the government declared the exclusion zone around the plant after the March 11 quake-tsunami, and sealed it off as a legal no-go zone on April 21.
According to NHK, 92 evacuees from 54 households in the village of Kawauchi were transported to a gymnasium on Tuesday morning.
There they put on radiation suits, masks and goggles and carried radiation dosimeters and walkie-talkies. Then the residents were taken to their homes in two groups and allowed only about two hours to pick up personal belongings and check on pets and livestock.
"I didn't think I would be feeling this tense before I return to my house," local resident Masao Yanai told TV Asahi at the gathering place just outside the off-limits area.
"Authorities say the level of radioactive contamination should not harm human health. But, yes, the contamination is a bit worrying," added Yanai.
Yanai said he hoped to make the best of the two-hour trip, during which each villager was allowed to fill a 70-by-70-centimeter plastic bag with personal items, such as family photos, money and bank records.
But they were banned from taking out pets, livestock, water or food. To save dogs, cats and other pets, Kyodo News reports that Japan's Ministry of the Environment plans to send professional teams into the no-entry zone to bring them out.
The evacuees were told to avoid any action that might compromise their protective clothing, including using the bathroom. And all of them underwent screening for radiation exposure after they were driven back to the gym.
In all, more than 85,000 people have been moved to shelters from areas around the nuclear plant, including from a wider 30-km zone, where people were first told to stay indoors and later urged to leave.
Since then, evacuees have urged the Japanese government to arrange brief home visits. NHK reported that people from nine municipalities will have the chance to visit their homes, but those living within 3 km of the nuclear plant are not allowed because of high radiation levels.
Since plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), Asia's largest utility, started to compensate local governments and residents near the plant, it has been facing funding problems.
TEPCO's president submitted a request on Tuesday for Japanese government aid to help pay the considerable compensation.
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