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Japan, Fukushima – Only 23 percent of residents registered with nine municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture that were formerly designated as hazard zones after the 2011 nuclear disaster have returned, local authorities said Thursday.
The central government began lifting evacuation orders in 2014, but of the 47,721 certified residents of the nine municipalities in northeastern Japan, 11,003 individuals currently live in their hometowns.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant spewed radioactive materials following a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that flooded the facility on March 11, 2011.
Following the crisis, the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, around 160,000 people were evacuated at one point and over 32,000 people remained in other prefectures as of January this year.
The government has allowed residents to return home as decontamination work proceeds, but concerns about radioactivity appear to be preventing some evacuees from returning, officials said.
Source and full English article: The Mainichi
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190308/p2g/00m/0na/003000c
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