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Japanese Evacuation Zone Residents Get First Visits Home

   VOA News  May 10, 2011
   Evacuees from Kawauchi village wearing protective suits wait in a bus
   for a brief return to their homes inside the restricted zone within
   20km radius from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant,
   May 10, 2011

Photo: Reuters

   Evacuees from Kawauchi village wearing protective suits wait in a bus
   for a brief return to their homes inside the restricted zone within
   20km radius from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant,
   May 10, 2011

   Nearly 100 Japanese residents have been allowed to return to their
   homes near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to collect bankbooks,
   medicines and other personal belongings.
   It was the first time anyone has been officially permitted back into
   the 20-kilometer evacuation zone since a March 11 earthquake and
   tsunami destroyed cooling systems at the plant, causing radiation
   leaks. A few residents sneaked back before the government imposed legal
   restraints in late April.
   The residents who returned Tuesday were provided with protective
   clothing, radiation-measuring dosimeters and walkie talkies (two-way
   radios), and were screened for radiation exposure after the two-hour
   visits. Additional visits are planned for residents of nine communities
   inside the zone before the end of May.
   Radiation leaking from the nuclear plant has made the surrounding area
   uninhabitable and has contaminated farm crops and fish stocks in much
   wider areas of northeastern Japan.
   The plant's operators, Tokyo Electric Power Company, approached the
   government Tuesday for assistance in making what are expected to be
   massive compensation payments to businesses and individuals who
   suffered financial losses because of the nuclear accident.
   Officials said they are prepared to take additional restructuring
   steps, including salary cuts and asset sales. The company has already
   cut salaries by 50 percent for board members, 25 percent for managers
   and 20 percent for ordinary staff.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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