More villagers near troubled nuclear plant evacuate as no-entry zone expanded
IITATE, Fukushima -- Local residents here have started leaving their homes as their entire village fell under recently expanded evacuation areas near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, but it remains unclear when or whether they can come back here again.
Tatsuya Aoki, a 37-year-old father of three, decided to evacuate to Hiroshima voluntarily. "I want to stay far away from this village for the sake of my children's health," he said, adding that he had no intention of returning to the area again.
After sending off the villagers, Iitate Mayor Norio Kanno told reporters, "I don't want the village to turn into a ghost town. I will take all possible measures to prevent that." But the question remains as to how many residents will actually return to the village when the evacuation order is lifted. Citing the case of a sharp drop in the population of Yamakoshi village in Niigata Prefecture in the wake of the 2004 Chuetsu earthquakes, Kanno said, "We want to have about 70 to 80 percent of the villagers or even more come back here." But the villagers are troubled by anxiety and insecurity.
In a bid to prevent a sharp drop in the village population in the future, the local government is urging villagers to take shelter at residences or inns relatively close to the village. But too many villagers wanted to stay at some popular facilities, and therefore not all of them will be able to stay at places they want. There are many cases of "mismatches" between the requests for places convenient for commuting to offices and schools and places actually available.
On the other hand...
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