Japan lifts evacuation order for last of 6 impacted areas near crippled Fukushima nuclear plant

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – The Japanese government on Monday lifted an evacuation order for parts of a village near the crippled Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, removing entry restrictions for one of the few remaining areas declared inhabited following the March 2011 nuclear disaster.

The lifting of the evacuation order means that the protracted entry restrictions in any designated reconstruction base across six municipalities in the area are no longer in place, the local Kyodo news agency reported.

The restrictions, imposed in March 2011 on seven municipalities due to high radiation levels, were lifted for the village of Iitate, which is located between 30 and 50 kilometers (about 18 to 31 miles) northwest of the power plant.

It follows the lifting of similar orders in five other municipalities that began in June 2022.

Futaba, Namie, Tomioka, Okuma, and Katsurao are the five other municipalities where restrictions were previously lifted, the news agency reported.

Following the nuclear disaster, the government imposed a "difficult-to-return" zone spanning a 337-square-kilometer (130-square-mile) area of Fukushima spanning seven municipalities.

The evacuation order for the village was also lifted for an area outside the base. It was a first for such an order to be lifted for somewhere outside the base.

Iitate was put under an evacuation order after a multiple-reactor meltdown in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

In March 2017, the entry ban was lifted for 95% of its area. However, a southern district of the village remained a "difficult-to-return" zone.

Of this zone, 17% was designated as a "reconstruction and revitalization" base. As of April 1, there were 62 households with 197 people registered as residents.

However, only three households totaling seven people have applied for overnight stays, which began in September in preparation for their full-scale return.