Japan eyes 'evacuation areas'
Source: Agencies |
April 21, 2011, Thursday
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AUTHORITIES may for the first time ban access to the evacuation zone around Japan's crippled nuclear plant, citing concerns yesterday over radiation risks for residents who may be returning to check on their homes.
About 70,000-80,000 people were living in the 10 towns and villages within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which has been leaking radiation after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami wrecked its power and cooling systems.
Virtually all left after being advised to do so, but some occasionally have returned, defying warnings from police who have set up roadblocks on only a few major roads in the area. "We are considering setting up 'caution areas' as an option for effectively limiting entry" to the zone, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan will meet with local officials and evacuees to discuss the proposed measure during a visit to the affected region today, Edano said.
Now that the situation at the plant appears to have stabilized somewhat, both residents and authorities are considering how to best weather a protracted evacuation. Residents have been demanding they be allowed to check their homes and collect belongings, while government officials are worried about radiation exposure.
Only a few warning signs, mainly about road conditions, have been erected in the area so far. Currently, there is no penalty for entering the area and police just note down the license plate numbers of those coming in. Officials say if there were a major accident, tracking down those inside would be nearly impossible.
"There are also issues surrounding non-residents who are entering the area. There are people who may steal things," said Noriyuki Shikata, one of Edano's deputies.
Kan, who will also visit a nuclear crisis management center during his trip today, has been under fire for the government's response to the nuclear crises. Edano implied that plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co should have been better prepared.
"Aside from the question of whether the accident could have been predicted, there was not sufficient preparation based on an anticipation, and there is no mistake about that. We urge all nuclear operators to immediately take any possible precaution based on the lesson from the Fukushima nuclear accident, and not wait until details of the accident are examined," he said.
In a step toward restoring the crippled plant's cooling systems, TEPCO has been pumping highly radioactive water from the basement of one of its turbine buildings to a makeshift storage area. Removal of the water is expected to take at least 20 days, nuclear safety officials say.
Still, a senior official at the UN nuclear agency suggested the worst of the radiation leaks may be over in the worst nuclear power accident since the 1986 catastrophe in Chernobyl.
The total amount of radiation released is expected to be only a "small increase from what it is today" if "things go as foreseen," said Dennis Flory, a deputy director general at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
About 70,000-80,000 people were living in the 10 towns and villages within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which has been leaking radiation after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami wrecked its power and cooling systems.
Virtually all left after being advised to do so, but some occasionally have returned, defying warnings from police who have set up roadblocks on only a few major roads in the area. "We are considering setting up 'caution areas' as an option for effectively limiting entry" to the zone, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan will meet with local officials and evacuees to discuss the proposed measure during a visit to the affected region today, Edano said.
Now that the situation at the plant appears to have stabilized somewhat, both residents and authorities are considering how to best weather a protracted evacuation. Residents have been demanding they be allowed to check their homes and collect belongings, while government officials are worried about radiation exposure.
Only a few warning signs, mainly about road conditions, have been erected in the area so far. Currently, there is no penalty for entering the area and police just note down the license plate numbers of those coming in. Officials say if there were a major accident, tracking down those inside would be nearly impossible.
"There are also issues surrounding non-residents who are entering the area. There are people who may steal things," said Noriyuki Shikata, one of Edano's deputies.
Kan, who will also visit a nuclear crisis management center during his trip today, has been under fire for the government's response to the nuclear crises. Edano implied that plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co should have been better prepared.
"Aside from the question of whether the accident could have been predicted, there was not sufficient preparation based on an anticipation, and there is no mistake about that. We urge all nuclear operators to immediately take any possible precaution based on the lesson from the Fukushima nuclear accident, and not wait until details of the accident are examined," he said.
In a step toward restoring the crippled plant's cooling systems, TEPCO has been pumping highly radioactive water from the basement of one of its turbine buildings to a makeshift storage area. Removal of the water is expected to take at least 20 days, nuclear safety officials say.
Still, a senior official at the UN nuclear agency suggested the worst of the radiation leaks may be over in the worst nuclear power accident since the 1986 catastrophe in Chernobyl.
The total amount of radiation released is expected to be only a "small increase from what it is today" if "things go as foreseen," said Dennis Flory, a deputy director general at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
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