Japan poised to overturn entry ban on some Fukushima cities

PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan said on Friday, March 30 it would lift entry bans on some cities in Fukushima prefecture that had been designated no-go zones due to their proximity to a nuclear power plant crippled by a powerful earthquake and tsunami last March, Reuters reported.

After the natural disasters triggered the worst atomic accident since Chernobyl by causing nuclear fuel meltdowns at the Daiichi power plant in Fukushima, 240 km (160 miles) northeast of Tokyo, the government evacuated a 20 km (12 mile) radius of the complex, in which around 80,000 people lived.

From April, the government will lift entry bans on Tamura, Minami Soma and Kawauchi, three of the 11 cities and towns that fall within or straddle the 20 km radius.

This follows their declaration in December that the Daiichi plant was in cold shutdown and under control after months of cleanup efforts, signaling it was ready to move to a longer-term phase to eventually decommission the plant.

After lifting the entry bans, the government will separate parts of Tamura, Minami Soma and Kawauchi into three categories, depending on radiation levels.

The government hopes that lifting the entry bans will speed up decontamination by allowing freer access.