Japan starts decontamination at Fukushima reconstruction base

December 25, 2017

Fukushima- Japan's Environment Ministry on Monday started decontamination work in a Fukushima Prefecture district to be used as a base for reconstruction in the prefecture hit by the 2011 nuclear disaster.

The work began in the reconstruction base district in the town of Futaba inside the no-entry zone around Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 power plant, where the triple meltdown occurred just after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Of the three places designated as reconstruction bases in the no-entry zone, Futaba's district is the first to see the start of work to decontaminate areas heavily contaminated with radioactive substances from the plant.

Key infrastructure, such as water and sewerage systems, roads and railways, will be rebuilt in the districts. The current plans envision that local residents will return there to restart their lives by around spring 2022.

In Futaba, a host municipality of the TEPCO plant, decontamination work will be conducted intensively in areas surrounding East Japan Railway Co.'s Futaba Station. The work will include tree cutting and house demolition after more than seven years since local residents evacuated.

The central government aims to lower radiation levels in the reconstruction base districts low enough for the government to remove evacuation orders and residents to live there within about five years.

The remaining two districts are in the towns of Okuma and Namie, both near Futaba. Jiji Press