Fukushima, Oct. 5 (Jiji Press)–The town of Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture will see the evacuation order lifted in December in some areas in its so-called difficult-to-return zone, where entry is restricted due to high levels of radiation following the 2011 nuclear accident. The move will affect some 113 hectares in two administrative districts in the northeastern Japan town’s specified living areas for returnees, where decontamination work is underway so that displaced residents can return, according to a recent announcement by Futaba. Futaba earlier planned that the order in the areas in the two districts, along with another, will be lifted by the end of next March but decided to move up the schedule for the two as it recognized progress in decontamination work and infrastructure construction. It expects that the order will be lifted for the third district by the end of next March. The lifting of the evacuation order for the two districts would be the first in specified living areas designated in six Fukushima municipalities including Futaba. Futaba is one of the two municipalities that host Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where the meltdown accident occurred. Decontamination work began in December 2023 in Futaba’s specified living areas for returnees totaling some 700 hectares, which straddle nine administrative districts. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
