nuclear-news

By the end of the month, this mountainous farming village of 7,000 people in Fukushima Prefecture, recently voted one of Japan’s most beautiful places, will join the Ukrainian ghost town of Pripyat on the planet’s short list of nuclear casualties…..…The young, the wealthy, mothers and pregnant women began leaving for Tokyo or elsewhere. The rest gathered every day in the village office for information and prayed against the inevitable.

Last month, the central government finally ordered the remaining citizens to leave after the International Atomic Energy Agency and other observers warned that safe radiation limits for cesium and other toxins had been exceeded.

“We’ve been told to quit our jobs and move out by the end of the month,” said Miyoko Nakamura, 59, a clerk in the village office. She is near retirement and says she’ll manage. “A lot of people have no idea what to do. They’re just hoping everything will be OK somehow.”

Villagers snort at the initial compensation of ¥1 million offered by Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the ruined Fukushima plant. Farmers will be given another ¥350,000 in moving expenses this month. After that, there are no more concrete promises…….http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110513f1.html