Recovering from Nuclear Disaster─ Issues Facing Okuma Town Today

Toshitsuna Watanabe
Mayor, Okuma Town
April 25, 2013

Contents

1. Overview of Okuma Town
2. Nuclear disaster and local residents
3. Challenges toward restoration11. Overview of Okuma Town

Overview of Okuma Town
■ A township located in the center of Fukushima Prefecture’s Hamadori region with thepopulation of 11,500 (as of March 11, 2011) and land area of 78.7 square kilometers (*ascompared to the 63 square kilometers of area inside Tokyo’s Yamanote circular train line).
■ Main local produce include fruit (pear, kiwi), wine made of pear or kiwi fruit, and farmed
flounder.

Exterior
view of theOkuma
Town Office3

Inviting the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station■Under the initiative of government and Fukushima Prefecture, thetownship accepted the development of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi
Nuclear Power Station. Its Unit 1 went operational in March 1971.
■Many local residents were involved in business operations related to thepower station, thereby making frontline contribution to the nation’s energy
policy.

(Source:
Nuclear Regulation Authority website)42. Nuclear Disasterand Local Residents

Nuclear disaster (situations at Okuma Town)■In addition to direct damage from the earthquake and tsunami, the township suffered theaccident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, forcing its entire population toevacuate.
 In the morning after the earthquake (5:44 on March 12), people who live within a 10km
radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station began evacuation under an
instruction from the Prime Minister.
 At 15:36 on March 12, a hydrogen explosion occurred at the power station’s Unit 1, which
led to the expansion of the evacuation zone to areas within a 20km radius.
 At 23:00 on March 12, the evacuation of all local residents was completed.

20km
radius10kmradius

6

Evacuation status immediately after the accident (reference)
Friday, March 11, 2011
•
14：46
•
Around 15：40•
Past 16：00•

Around 16：50•

Around 21：20

The earthquake struck.
The first waves of tsunami arrived.
“Station Blackout” reported under Article 10 of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency
Preparedness“Inability to inject water into ECCS” reported under Article 15 of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear
Emergency Preparedness
The Prime Minister ordered “evacuation of residents within a 3km radius and indoor evacuation within a10km radius”.

Saturday, March 12•
5：44•
Around 6：30

••
•

•
•
•

The Prime Minister ordered “evacuation of residents within a 10km radius”.
Evacuation started. Confusion was reported on site with SDF standing by to wait for HQ instructions and police
instructing the use of home vehicles for evacuation, despite the official instruction to “evacuate all residents bybus”.
7：47
TEPCO reported the start of plant ventilation.
15：36
Hydrogen explosion at Unit 1 (Residents who have missed the evacuation bus waited until 17:00 but
were ordered to evacuate immediately.)Around 17：00
The Emergency Response HQ was set up at the Tamura City General Gymnasium.
（At the time, 6,000 people were evacuated to six sites in Tamura City. Following evacuation from othermunicipalities, evacuees were distributed to 27 evacuation centers in Tamura, Miharu, Ono and Koriyama.)
18：25
The Prime Minister ordered “evacuation of residents within a 20km radius”.
Around 19：00
Evacuees at the Furumichi Gymnasium and Furumichi Elementary School Gymnasium were transferred to theFunehiki Elementary School Gymnasium and Tamura City Culture Center.
Evacuation completed
23：00

A temporary town office was set up in Aizuwakamatsu on April 4 to resume town office duties and start confirming the status of Town
residents in evacuation at various sites.

7

Influence of the nuclear disaster (Status of Okuma Town (1))
Aquaculture Center
Afterthedisaster

Shopping mall8

Influence of the nuclear disaster (Status of Okuma Town (2))●Swarms of livestock on the loose●Stone fences collapsed in the earthquake

9

Influence of the nuclear disaster (Status of Okuma Town (3))
Okuma Town Office●Town office still left abandoned
after the earthquake●The broken clocks showing thetime of the earthquake

10

Long-term damage from the nuclear accident■Review of the designated evacuation zones
Last December, areas where 95% of the town’s population lived were included
into the Difficult-to-Return zone. The town assembly subsequently adopted a 5year no return policy.
■Progress of decontamination
Advance decontamination work began in the Okawara district in December lastyear.
■Temporary access
Residents were allowed temporary access for the 7th time since February this year.
Difficult-toReturn Zone
Zone being
prepared tohave theevacuation
order lifted
Residential
Restriction
Zone(Source: METI website)

11

Current living arrangement of town residents■Evacuation locations： Approx. 6,400 people in Aizuwakamatsu and Iwaki Cities (around 60%of all evacuees)■Schooling function： Branch kindergarten, elementary school and junior high school wereopened in Aizu (April 2011), with the registration of 472 students in total (30% of all
applicable-age children)■Status of temporary housing：A large number of residents live in temporary and rental housings.
Development work is currently underway for prefectural restoration housings, but the majorityof people are seeking to gain their own houses.
■Restoration plan：The First Okuma Town Restoration Plan was drawn up in September lastyear. Meanwhile, a survey found that around 40% of residents do not intend to return to thetown.

Intention to return to Okuma Town
Fukushima PrefectureApprox.
100km
Aizuwakamatsu
CityTEPCO
Fukushima Daiichi NPPOkuma Town

12

Matters that residents face
＜Short-term matters＞■ Compensation
Amount of money that allows residents to regain the previous standard of living even ina different location.
Criteria are unclear for majority of cases (in terms of mortgage, farming equipment, etc.)■ Residential assurance
Public restoration housings (rent assistance, development of educational, medical andwelfare services)
Amidst the protraction of life in evacuation, some people have opted to buy their ownhouse, and suffer double debt.
■ Damage from unfounded rumors
Establishment of national consensus on radiation dose standards for health, foods etc.
＜Long-term matters＞■Decontamination, interim storage, decommissioning… Closely linked to the town’s restoration. Time limit to be determined urgently■Municipal functions (“out-of-town communities” including schooling)… Challenge for all the people affected by the nuclear accident

13

3. Challenges toward restoration

Challenges toward restoration■ Difficulty in setting a timeframe■ Scientific yardstick for radiation dose
■ Bringing the nuclear accident under control
and clarifying the decommissioning
schedule■ Addressing a multitude of sentiments
among town residents
15

Challenges toward restoration (1)■ Difficulty in setting a timeframe＊Town residents are starting new lives at their respective
evacuation communities. Faced with practical issues
such as housing purchase and new project launch, there
is no timeframe that can be a guide for rebuilding anddesigning life in the town.
＊It is necessary to present specific time limits for
miscellaneous challenges to clearly present to town
residents as to what the town’s situations will be like bywhat timeframe.
16Challenges toward restoration (2)■ Scientific yardstick for radiation dose
＊There is no national consensus on radiation dosestandards concerning living environment, health, foods,etc., resulting in failure to establish the sense of security
among residents and farmers.
＊The final decision to return to the town rests on individual
residents, but there should be objective and scientificbasis that they can refer to in making their decision(especially for women and children).
17Challenges toward restoration (3)■ Bringing the nuclear accident under control
and clarifying the decommissioning schedule＊The first tasks should be to decide on the final method
and location for processing high-level radioactive wastefrom reactors, including debate on the issue of thenuclear fuel cycle.
＊For Units 1 – 4, it is necessary to draw up a safe andsteady decommissioning schedule to establish a sense of
security among town residents.
18

Challenges toward restoration (4)■ Addressing a multitude of sentiments
among town residents＊The protraction of residents’ life in evacuation is causing
diversifying issues that they face, e.g. their futurecontribution to the cost of makeshift and rental housings(currently offered free), the placement of residential
registry in relation to education and parenting, andprejudice in evacuation communities. Each issue should
be dealt with carefully to address the sentiments of town
residents.
19

Okuma town’s restoration vision and plan

■ Restoration vision (10. 2011)■ First restoration plan (9. 2012)■ Stage 1 implementation plan (3. 2013)20

Thank you very much.