Evacuation zone widened beyond 20 km from Fukushima nuclear plant

TOKYO (Kyodo) - The government on Friday added some towns outside a 20-kilometer radius of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the list of areas covered by its evacuation directive due to concerns over high cumulative levels of radiation exposure.
All residents in Iitate, Katsurao, Namie and some in Kawamata and Minamisoma in Fukushima Prefecture must leave by around late May, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference. These residents total about 10,500 people, according to the government.
The announcement came a day after the government declared the 20-km zone around the tsunami-stricken plant a no-go area as the facility's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., struggles to meet its self-imposed goal of bringing the nuclear crisis under control within the next six to nine months.
Edano said he cannot predict when the new evacuees will be able to return home. He noted this will hinge on whether the utility is able to stabilize the radiation-spewing plant according to the timetable it released last week.
The top government spokesman said the expansion was based on internationally recommended standards and radiation monitoring data collected since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered the world's most serious nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
He said there is a possibility of residents of the five municipalities receiving a dose of 20 millisieverts during the course of a year, even if they live outside the no-go zone.
The International Atomic Energy Agency recommends that the highest planned residual radiation over one year should be in the range of 20 to 100 millisieverts in an emergency.
Following a strong local request to allow people to move their livestock out of the evacuation area, the government is making arrangements to conduct blanket testing of cows and other domestic animals, Edano said.
While the government is stepping up its environmental monitoring, Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato to prohibit farmers in 12 municipalities around the plant from growing rice.
Edano also said about 67,000 residents in a zone 20 to 30 km from the nuclear plant, encompassing the town of Hirono and some districts in Naraha, Kawauchi, Tamura and Minamisoma, became subject to a new directive that requires them to be prepared to evacuate or stay indoors in an emergency.
With the latest changes, the government withdrew its previous request for all people living in the 20-30 km zone to stay indoors. The city of Iwaki in the prefecture, part of which is within the 30-km range, is no longer under any government evacuation directive.
==Kyodo
2011-04-22 23:12:41

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TOKYO, April 22 Kyodo -
The government on Friday added some towns outside a 20-kilometer radius of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the list of areas covered by its evacuation directive due to concerns over high cumulative levels of radiation exposure.
All residents in Iitate, Katsurao, Namie and some in Kawamata and Minamisoma in Fukushima Prefecture must leave by around late May, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference. These residents total about 10,500 people, according to the government.
The announcement came a day after the government declared the 20-km zone around the tsunami-stricken plant a no-go area as the facility's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., struggles to meet its self-imposed goal of bringing the nuclear crisis under control within the next six to nine months.
Edano said he cannot predict when the new evacuees will be able to return home. He noted this will hinge on whether the utility is able to stabilize the radiation-spewing plant according to the timetable it released last week.
The top government spokesman said the expansion was based on internationally recommended standards and radiation monitoring data collected since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered the world's most serious nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
He said there is a possibility of residents of the five municipalities receiving a dose of 20 millisieverts during the course of a year, even if they live outside the no-go zone.
The International Atomic Energy Agency recommends that the highest planned residual radiation over one year should be in the range of 20 to 100 millisieverts in an emergency.
Following a strong local request to allow people to move their livestock out of the evacuation area, the government is making arrangements to conduct blanket testing of cows and other domestic animals, Edano said.
While the government is stepping up its environmental monitoring, Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato to prohibit farmers in 12 municipalities around the plant from growing rice.
Edano also said about 67,000 residents in a zone 20 to 30 km from the nuclear plant, encompassing the town of Hirono and some districts in Naraha, Kawauchi, Tamura and Minamisoma, became subject to a new directive that requires them to be prepared to evacuate or stay indoors in an emergency.
With the latest changes, the government withdrew its previous request for all people living in the 20-30 km zone to stay indoors. The city of Iwaki in the prefecture, part of which is within the 30-km range, is no longer under any government evacuation directive.