Life revived on Fukushima 'dead land'

Hirono, the town affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, became the first place to welcome people back home after being evacuated for a year.

>>> Life in the dead land in Japan

Hirono officials began reopening the town's office, just outside the quarantine area, just over 20km from the Fukushima I nuclear power plant. All residents of Hirono were evacuated last year after the nuclear crisis occurred. Now the town hall is reopened to mark an important step in restoring the community at Fukushima.

"Opening the town hall is the first step to restore and revitalize the town, prepare environmental conditions to welcome the returning people , " Kyodo News quoted Mayor Hirono, Motohoshi Yamada, telling the staff. mine.

A year after the tsunami, the rubble was cleared
clean up, ready for reconstruction work. (Photo: EPA)

The work of welcoming people back took place right on the anniversary of a year of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis with a series of power plant explosions at radioactive leakage into the environment. around.

The tsunami disaster has claimed the lives of more than 19,000 people across northeastern Japan, while the nuclear crisis left 80,000 residents of Fukushima.

A year has passed, but it will take a long time for life in Hirono to return to normal as before. Although government agencies have returned but most schools are still closed and only 250 people out of a total of 5,300 town residents return.

However, mayor Hirono said he planned to abolish the evacuation order for the people in March, opening the school in the second semester of the school year and completing complete detoxification in residential areas at the end this year.

The initial steps of Hirono to restore the community like before the disaster had encouraged the neighboring towns to also restore and rebuild. Kawauchi, the neighboring village and nine other communities have to evacuate because of the disaster, also said it is planning to return next month.