Japan bans residents from remaining within 20-km of Fukushima plant

TOKYO, April 22 Kyodo -
Japan imposed a no-entry zone midnight Thursday prohibiting residents from remaining within a 20-kilometer radius of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to enhance control of evacuees amid continued fears of radiation leaks.
The no-entry zone came into effect following a meeting between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato at the prefectural office on Thursday, in which Kan told Sato to upgrade the current evacuation instruction for residents in the area.
Sato, emerging from a 35-minute meeting with Kan, told reporters he had called on the premier to thoroughly explain the new step to the municipalities subject to the legally binding ''caution areas.''
Under the law, the heads of cities, towns and villages, who receive a directive from the prime minister, set such no-entry zones, where people other than those engaged in disaster relief are prohibited from entering or are ordered to leave, with violators possibly facing detention or fines of up to 100,000 yen.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said during a news conference that the government will seek the residents' understanding regarding the order to prevent it from imposing any ''compulsory measures.''
Kan, in a separate news conference, dismissed calls that the measure was harsh, saying the step provides legal grounds to stop people from entering the zone and prevent incidents such as theft.
Local authorities and the Fukushima prefectural police began preparations to implement the no-entry zone, setting up barricades on roads to the area. Police will be posted around-the-clock at 10 key checkpoints. Up to 590 policemen will be dispatched for security checkpoints and patrols.
Residents, meanwhile, scrambled to get to their homes in the zone to collect valuables and clothing. A 33-year-old company employee, who lives about 7 km from the plant, said, ''I had already prepared myself for it but the announcement was so sudden.''
Along with the designation of the no-entry zone, the government, in response to the strong desire of local people, will start ''in a few days'' to allow residents already evacuated after the disasters to briefly return to their homes in the 20-km area, the top government spokesman said.
According to the government, the ''caution areas'' cover a population of about 78,000 people.
Of the total, around 6,000 people whose homes lie only 3 km from the plant will not be granted brief visits. The government will also exclude areas outside the 3-km radius where high levels of radiation have been registered.
Only one person per household will be allowed to return for up to two hours to take a limited number of items such as wallets, bankbooks and other valuables that can be stored in a bag. They will have to wear protective clothing and carry dosimeters, and undergo radiation screening afterward, Edano said, adding the evacuees will be able to return many times.
People visiting their homes will ride on buses led by the police when entering the off-limits zone. Up to 25 microbuses, prepared by the central government, will be used.
The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has designated 200 microsieverts per hour as a yardstick for allowing residents who have been evacuated from a government-imposed 20-km exclusion zone to return home temporarily.
The government's latest step comes as residents' lives as evacuees are likely to be prolonged after plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. laid out a six to nine month timetable to bring the plant's crippled reactors under control.
Kan, on his fourth trip to the disaster zone since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, told reporters in the Fukushima Prefecture city of Koriyama that he wants to see the timetable completed as planned or even earlier.
He also promised during his visit to shelters in the cities of Tamura and Koriyama that the government will provide full support to help evacuees rebuild their lives.
At a gymnasium in Tamura, a couple who evacuated from the village of Katsurao stopped the premier from leaving to air their grievances, with the woman asking Kan to consider their children's future. Kan responded, ''I will do all I can for the children.''
After the plant lost its cooling functions in the devastating earthquake and tsunami, the government ordered people living within 20 km of the plant to evacuate and those in the 20- to 30-km ring to stay indoors or voluntarily leave the area.
The village of Iitate and a part of the city of Minamisoma, which are outside the 20-km radius of the plant, will also be designated on Friday as an evacuation area, the Fukushima governor quoted Kan as telling him.