The worst may have passed in the most horrible nuclear accident since Chernobyl, but cleaning up when it's finally over is likely to get decades and cost Japan an untold fortune. A six- to nine month horizon for winding down the disaster, laid out by plant owner Tokyo Electric Power this week, is just the beginning. Near the end of that timeline, Japan's government says it will make a decision when or whether the nearly 80,000 people who were told to flee their homes in the early on days of the disaster can return. Friday marks six weeks since the March 11 magnitude-9.0 earthquake and consequent tsunami that triggered the crisis.
Some of those who have already spent six weeks in emergency housing, like Tomioka funeral director Kazuhiro Shirato, say they do not guess to return to what was home. "I have been told by TEPCO since I was very small that the nuclear power plant was safe, so I never imagined this would occur," Shirato told CNN. "I hope now that the entire town will move to another place and rebuild." Many of those displaced by the disaster have spent a month living in government shelters occasionally just gyms and are running low on money. Tokyo Electric has promised to make a down payment on compensation of 1 million yen (about $12,000) per household, with the meaning of sending out checks by late April.
Another 66,000 have been told to plan for evacuations in towns where radiation readings are at levels that could increase the long-term risk of cancer for anyone who stays. That will definitely add to what is likely to be a staggering tab for the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric, the country's biggest utility. "We are mobilizing our resources in order to tackle the situation, to ease the burdens on those people who have evacuated from the area," Cabinet spokesman Noriyuki Shikata said. "We recognize that it's going to cost a quite important amount. But at this juncture, I do not believe we have come to a specific kind of budget size."
Some of those who have already spent six weeks in emergency housing, like Tomioka funeral director Kazuhiro Shirato, say they do not guess to return to what was home. "I have been told by TEPCO since I was very small that the nuclear power plant was safe, so I never imagined this would occur," Shirato told CNN. "I hope now that the entire town will move to another place and rebuild." Many of those displaced by the disaster have spent a month living in government shelters occasionally just gyms and are running low on money. Tokyo Electric has promised to make a down payment on compensation of 1 million yen (about $12,000) per household, with the meaning of sending out checks by late April.
Another 66,000 have been told to plan for evacuations in towns where radiation readings are at levels that could increase the long-term risk of cancer for anyone who stays. That will definitely add to what is likely to be a staggering tab for the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric, the country's biggest utility. "We are mobilizing our resources in order to tackle the situation, to ease the burdens on those people who have evacuated from the area," Cabinet spokesman Noriyuki Shikata said. "We recognize that it's going to cost a quite important amount. But at this juncture, I do not believe we have come to a specific kind of budget size."
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