ID :
171386
Mon, 03/28/2011 - 19:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/171386
The shortlink copeid
Gov't urges locals not to return to exclusion zone for now
TOKYO, March 28 Kyodo - The government on Monday urged residents of the 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant not to return for the time being.
''It is very likely that anywhere within 20 km of the plant is contaminated and there is a big risk (to human health) at the moment,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference, stressing that residents should not enter the area before the government gives the green light to do so.
Edano made his remark in the wake of reports to the central government that locals were briefly returning without permission to their homes to collect belongings.
More than 40 residents were staying within the 20-km exclusion zone as of Monday evening, according to Kyodo News tallies gathered from 10 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture.
The government had been looking into the feasibility of allowing locals to return temporarily to their homes after the devastating March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, which crippled the Fukushima plant.
But high levels of radiation have been detected near the plant as Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the nuclear complex, struggles to contain radiation leaks and restore the cooling functions of the plant's reactors.
Of the 10 municipalities, three towns -- Okuma, Futaba and Tomioka -- lie fully within the exclusion zone and seven others, including Minamisoma and Tamura, are partially within it.
Around 1,200 of the 6,800 residents of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, which hosts the nuclear plant, and its municipal government have taken refuge at Saitama Super Arena in the city of Saitama, and on Wednesday they will move to a school building in the city of Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, that is currently not in use.
Following the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, around 180,000 people in quake-hit areas are still staying at some 2,000 evacuation centers in 17 prefectures, while the number of dead or unaccounted for reached 28,343 -- 11,004 deaths and 17,339 missing, according to the National Police Agency.
Among the evacuees, a 62-year-old woman, who moved to Tagami, Niigata Prefecture, from Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, froze to death, according to local police.
She suffered from dementia and is believed to have lost her way after leaving the evacuation center there.
Meanwhile, at least 14 municipalities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, all of which were severely hit by the quake and tsunami, suffered damage to their municipal offices, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Most of them have transferred their administrative functions to other facilities, the ministry said.
The government also faces the daunting task of clearing hard-hit areas of debris.
In Miyagi Prefecture, the amount of rubble is estimated at 15-18 million tons, equivalent to 23 years' worth of the prefecture's domestic waste, according to Gov. Yoshihiro Murai.
Murai said the prefecture will take charge of removing all rubble within three years.
Miyagi Prefecture also announced that damage caused to infrastructure including bridges and ports, sewage treatment plants and schools comes to over 1 trillion yen.
''It is very likely that anywhere within 20 km of the plant is contaminated and there is a big risk (to human health) at the moment,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference, stressing that residents should not enter the area before the government gives the green light to do so.
Edano made his remark in the wake of reports to the central government that locals were briefly returning without permission to their homes to collect belongings.
More than 40 residents were staying within the 20-km exclusion zone as of Monday evening, according to Kyodo News tallies gathered from 10 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture.
The government had been looking into the feasibility of allowing locals to return temporarily to their homes after the devastating March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, which crippled the Fukushima plant.
But high levels of radiation have been detected near the plant as Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the nuclear complex, struggles to contain radiation leaks and restore the cooling functions of the plant's reactors.
Of the 10 municipalities, three towns -- Okuma, Futaba and Tomioka -- lie fully within the exclusion zone and seven others, including Minamisoma and Tamura, are partially within it.
Around 1,200 of the 6,800 residents of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, which hosts the nuclear plant, and its municipal government have taken refuge at Saitama Super Arena in the city of Saitama, and on Wednesday they will move to a school building in the city of Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, that is currently not in use.
Following the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, around 180,000 people in quake-hit areas are still staying at some 2,000 evacuation centers in 17 prefectures, while the number of dead or unaccounted for reached 28,343 -- 11,004 deaths and 17,339 missing, according to the National Police Agency.
Among the evacuees, a 62-year-old woman, who moved to Tagami, Niigata Prefecture, from Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, froze to death, according to local police.
She suffered from dementia and is believed to have lost her way after leaving the evacuation center there.
Meanwhile, at least 14 municipalities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, all of which were severely hit by the quake and tsunami, suffered damage to their municipal offices, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Most of them have transferred their administrative functions to other facilities, the ministry said.
The government also faces the daunting task of clearing hard-hit areas of debris.
In Miyagi Prefecture, the amount of rubble is estimated at 15-18 million tons, equivalent to 23 years' worth of the prefecture's domestic waste, according to Gov. Yoshihiro Murai.
Murai said the prefecture will take charge of removing all rubble within three years.
Miyagi Prefecture also announced that damage caused to infrastructure including bridges and ports, sewage treatment plants and schools comes to over 1 trillion yen.
