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Fukushima
authorities ask troops to help deal with forest fires near crippled
nuclear power plant
RT,
30
April, 2017
Fukushima
prefecture has asked the Japanese Self-Defense Forces for help in
handling forest fires that have swept areas near the crippled
Fukushima power plant, local media report. Strong winds are hindering
the firefighting efforts, however.
The
forest fires broke out near the town of Namie, some seven kilometers
from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, on Saturday
evening, Japanese NHK broadcasterreported.
Namie
was evacuated following the 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear
disaster in Fukushima.
The
prefecture has deployed several helicopters to extinguish the fires,
which are believed to have been caused by lightning. According to
police, at least 10 hectares of forest have burned in the area.
There
have been no reports of injuries or damage to buildings so far,
Japanese media say.
With
strong winds stoking the flames, the Fukushima Prefecture has
requested help from the Self-Defense Forces, Japan’s de-facto army,
on Sunday.
Earlier
in April, residents of Namie, as well as those from the village of
Iitate and the town of Kawamata’s Yamakiya neighborhood, totaling
22,100 people in all, were told they could return home – with the
exception of those with houses in so-called no-go zones, where
radiation levels are still too high, according to Japanese media.
So
far, the homecoming has not been as successful as the government had
hoped, as few residents have been eager to go back.
Results
of a Fukushima Prefectural Government survey released on April 24
show that some 78.2 percent of the evacuated households have no
intention of returning to their previous residences and plan to
remain in the area they evacuated to.
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