Evacuation Urged for Radioactive Hot Spots (Outside No-Entry Zones)

Source: Japan Times


Friday, June 17, 2011

Evacuation urged for radioactive hot spots

Recommendation to leave limited areas outside 20-km zone won't be mandatory

By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer
The government said Thursday it will recommend the evacuation of residents living in radioactive hot spots outside the no-entry zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

In-depth monitoring by the government found the hot spots outside the 20-km evacuation zone in numerous places, including in Date and Minamisoma in Fukushima Prefecture where levels of radiation exceeded the equivalent of 20 millisieverts per year.

According to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, the results of the monitoring showed that the hot spots were limited in scope, unlike the situation in the evacuation zone, and therefore the government determined that "an across-the-board evacuation or restrictions of industrial activities" were unnecessary.

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Households in hot spot zones will be contacted individually by their local governments. Those who wish to leave will be issued documents certifying them as disaster victims and given government support to evacuate, while those who wish to remain will be able to continue to do so.

Read more: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110617a1.html

The Fukushima prefectural government has had a notice on its web site about evacuating areas outside of the 20km zone since late April. Evacuation areas are divided into "Planned Evacuation Zones" (計画的避難区域 ) and "Emergency Evacuation Preparation Zones" (緊急時避難準備区域 ). "Planned Evacuation Zones", which include all of Iidate Village, part of Katsurao Village, part of Minami Soma City, part of Namie Town, and part of Kawamata Town, were scheduled to be evacuated by the end of last month. The "Emergency Evacuation Preparation Zones", which include Hirono Town, the parts of Naraha Town that haven't been evacuated already, the parts of Kawachi Village that haven't been evacuated already, part of Tamura City, and part of Minami Soma City, are areas where residents are urged to make preparations to be evacuated on a moment's notice. Perhaps the "news" about this is that Date City has apparently been added to the list.

http://wwwcms.pref.fukushima.jp/pcp_portal/PortalServlet;jsessionid=A1B0F36712FB442E4CF03ECD28266FE6?DISPLAY_ID=DIRECT&NEXT_DISPLAY_ID=U000004&CONTENTS_ID=23625