2 JAPAN’S ENERGY POLICY AND COMMUNITY POWER …
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site was designated as an “Access-restricted Area” and no entry was been
allowed unless authorized, a situation that continued until the end of
March 2017. Some areas, like Iitate Village, outside the 20-km zone,
have been also designated as “Deliberate Evacuation Areas.” Even as of
December 2019, more than eight years after accident, around 42,000
people were still evacuated, with 11,000 relocated within Fukushima
Prefecture and another 310,000 outside the prefecture at their own volition (Reconstruction Agency 2019). Their situation has continued to be
serious over these ensuing years. The central and local governments are
giving a strong pressure to return to homes under the “the early return
policy,” because in most of the contaminated areas, the radiation level has
already dropped under the level of 20 millisievert per year, the new standard for evacuation. The government has started to curtail the subsidies
they provided for evacuees.
Evacuees criticize these policies and claim that the real intention of
national and local governments in introducing this policy is to create the
public image that the situation is already under control. This has irritated
and caused mental pain for evacuees. They have had difficulty deciding
what they should do, return soon, wait long years for the level of radiation to decrease, or give up returning. Within families, members often
have different points of view depending on their age, job, and whether
they are raising children. Older generation want to return if possible.
Many of evacuees who are younger and raising children decided to give
up returning because of their fear of being exposed to high radiation.
They want to rebuild their life in a new place as soon as possible. The
radiation level of 20 millisievert per year is 20 times higher than the
former safety standard of one millisievert in place prior to the Fukushima
accident. More than 40,000 people lost their homes, their beautiful farmland on which many generations of their ancestors had worked ardently,
their fisheries, their customers, their workplaces, and their hope. Their
communities were divided, and many had their family lives destroyed.
The Chinese character of “Fukushima” consists of “Fuku” literally
meaning “happy” and “Shima” meaning “land” in this context. This
area with the happy name, which produces a variety of delicious farming
products, including famous peaches, and is also famous for its beautiful
landscape suddenly turned to “the land of tragedy,” like Hiroshima and
Nagasaki where the US military dropped atomic bombs in 1945.
25
site was designated as an “Access-restricted Area” and no entry was been
allowed unless authorized, a situation that continued until the end of
March 2017. Some areas, like Iitate Village, outside the 20-km zone,
have been also designated as “Deliberate Evacuation Areas.” Even as of
December 2019, more than eight years after accident, around 42,000
people were still evacuated, with 11,000 relocated within Fukushima
Prefecture and another 310,000 outside the prefecture at their own volition (Reconstruction Agency 2019). Their situation has continued to be
serious over these ensuing years. The central and local governments are
giving a strong pressure to return to homes under the “the early return
policy,” because in most of the contaminated areas, the radiation level has
already dropped under the level of 20 millisievert per year, the new standard for evacuation. The government has started to curtail the subsidies
they provided for evacuees.
Evacuees criticize these policies and claim that the real intention of
national and local governments in introducing this policy is to create the
public image that the situation is already under control. This has irritated
and caused mental pain for evacuees. They have had difficulty deciding
what they should do, return soon, wait long years for the level of radiation to decrease, or give up returning. Within families, members often
have different points of view depending on their age, job, and whether
they are raising children. Older generation want to return if possible.
Many of evacuees who are younger and raising children decided to give
up returning because of their fear of being exposed to high radiation.
They want to rebuild their life in a new place as soon as possible. The
radiation level of 20 millisievert per year is 20 times higher than the
former safety standard of one millisievert in place prior to the Fukushima
accident. More than 40,000 people lost their homes, their beautiful farmland on which many generations of their ancestors had worked ardently,
their fisheries, their customers, their workplaces, and their hope. Their
communities were divided, and many had their family lives destroyed.
The Chinese character of “Fukushima” consists of “Fuku” literally
meaning “happy” and “Shima” meaning “land” in this context. This
area with the happy name, which produces a variety of delicious farming
products, including famous peaches, and is also famous for its beautiful
landscape suddenly turned to “the land of tragedy,” like Hiroshima and
Nagasaki where the US military dropped atomic bombs in 1945.