Lifting the evacuation order without decontamination taking place for a difficult-to-return zone in Fukushima Prefecture is being considered by the central government. If the order is lifted for some areas of Iitate village, this will be the first such case.
Areas have been designated as difficult-to-return zones because of the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The area in Iitate being considered for the lifting of the order excludes footholds designated as special zones for reconstruction and revitalization, where decontamination is progressing earlier than other locations on the assumption that people will live there in the future.
The government set up reconstruction footholds in Iitate and five other towns and villages in Fukushima Prefecture, with the aim of lifting the evacuation order in those areas in 2022 to 2023 after decontamination.
However, besides the footholds, the government has not indicated a clear policy on how to lift the orders in the difficult-to-return zones.
In Iitate, the evacuation order is expected to be lifted in 2023 for 186 hectares of a foothold area in the Nagadoro district out of a 1,100-hectare difficult-to-return zone, but there is no prospect of lifting the evacuation order for the remaining 80% of the area.
In February, Iitate village asked the government to lift the evacuation order because it wanted to make part of the area into parks. By making the park uninhabitable, the village aims to lift the ban without decontamination taking place.
The government will consult Wednesday with the Nuclear Regulation Authority about radiation protection measures in the related areas. After these discussions, the government is expected to hold a meeting of the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters to decide on a policy.
On the other hand, five neighboring towns and villages that also have footholds are increasingly wary of the lifting of an order without presupposing future residence.
In the five towns and villages other than Iitate, there are many residential houses in the difficult-to-return zones other than the foothold areas.
"It is the responsibility of the government to clean up the polluted land and hand it back," said Jun Yoshida, mayor of Okuma, where more than 60% of the town is in the difficult-to-return zones. "We reject the policy of lifting the order without decontamination."
On Monday, the Futaba regional towns and villages association, which comprises eight municipalities including towns and villages where the nuclear power plants are located, called on Reconstruction Minister Kazunori Tanaka to clarify a policy for lifting the order after carrying out decontamination and demolition of houses in areas other than the footholds.
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