20110422 Japanese nuclear evacuation area now a no-go zone

Japanese nuclear evacuation area now a no-go zone

AP, FUTABA, JAPAN

Residents rushed back into the 20km evacuation zone around Japan’s radiation-spewing nuclear power plant yesterday, grabbing whatever belongings they could before an order went into effect legally banning entry to the area.

A stream of evacuees ventured into deserted towns near the plant, some in white protective suits and others in face masks and rain gear they hoped would protect against radiation. Most raced through the zone with car windows closed, their vehicles crammed with clothing and valuables.

“This is our last chance, but we aren’t going to stay long. We are just getting what we need and getting out,” said Kiyoshi Kitajima, an X-ray technician, who dashed to his hospital in Futaba, a town next-door to the plant, to collect equipment before the order went into effect at midnight.

Officials said the order announced yesterday was meant to limit exposure to radiation leaking from the plant and to prevent thefts. Almost all the zone’s nearly 80,000 residents left when the area was evacuated on March 12, but police had not been able to legally block them from going back.

Police had no estimate of the exact number of people who have returned to the zone or who still might be living there.

Under a special nuclear emergency law, people who enter the zone will now be subject to fines of up to ¥100,000 (US$1,200) or possible detention of up to 30 days. Up to now, defiance of the evacuation order was not punishable by law.

The order angered some residents who fled their homes nearly empty-handed when they were told to evacuate after last month’s tsunami and earthquake wrecked the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant’s power and cooling systems.

“I initially thought we would be able to return within a few days. So I brought nothing except a bank card,” said Kazuko Suzuki, 49, also from Futaba.

“I really want to go back. I want to check if our house is still there,” said Suzuki, who fled with her teenage son and daughter. “My patience has run out. I just want to go home.”

The no-go order was not due to any particular change in conditions inside the plant, which appear to have somewhat stabilized. Even under the best-case scenario, however, the plant’s operator says it will take at least six months to bring its reactors safely into a cold shutdown.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said authorities would arrange brief visits, allowing one person per household to return by bus for a maximum of two hours to collect necessary belongings.

Participants would have to go through radiation screening, he said.

No visits will be allowed in a 3km area closest to the plant, said Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, confirming reports that zone would be completely off-limits.

Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai of Minami Soma, where about half the 71,000 residents lived in areas that will now be off-limits, questioned the rationale for the way the evacuation zone was decided.

“It feels like some outsider who doesn’t know anything about our geography sat at a desk and drew these circles,” Sakurai said. “The zones have zero scientific basis. Radiation doesn’t travel in neat circles. Just putting up circles around the plant is unreasonable.”