Ordeal Continues for Japan's Nuclear Evacuees

Ordeal Continues for Japan's Nuclear Evacuees

from VOA News: Top Stories by Henry Ridgwell

In a televised address to the nation, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said the evacuation of residents from around the stricken Fukushima power plant will be long term.  An estimated 70,000 people have been moved from settlements near the plant. Much of the population of Futaba town were evacuated to a huge stadium on the outskirts of the capital, Tokyo. They are now being moved on to yet another shelter.

Evacuating the population of an entire town is no simple task. For 1,200 residents of Futaba town - next to the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant - the Saitama Super Arena has been home for the past two weeks.

It is a cavernous concrete stadium. Freight locomotives and bullet trains sweep past every minute of the day. On the arena floor - normally occupied by pop bands and screaming fans - the residents have constructed cardboard walls and laid out their blankets on their small patches of ground.

The facility could hardly be described as homey.  For Futaba’s evacuees, like Teiji Idogawa and his family, the uncertainty is starting to tell.

He says, "It has been tough. But we’ve been well taken care of by everyone. We’re really grateful.”  But he adds, “I don’t know when we can go home… I hope we can go very soon.  Going home is all I’ve been thinking about."

No one knows when Futaba’s people will return to what’s left of their homes. High radiation levels are still being detected even beyond the 20 kilometer evacuation zone.

The full impact of the radiation leaks on the local environment is not yet known. But some analysts fear the area around the Fukushima plant could remain dangerous for months if not years.