福島・楢葉町：“準備住宿”開始...... 直轄市全域疏散區首次

A few weeks ago the Mainichi News on-line reported the following:

福島・楢葉町:「準備宿泊」始まる…全域避難自治体で初

毎日新聞　2015年04月06日　21時18分（最終更新　04月06日　21時45分）

　東京電力福島第１原発事故で、ほぼ全域が避難区域となった福島県楢葉町で６日、今夏の避難指示解除に向けた３カ月間の準備宿泊が始まった。国は早ければ７月にも避難指示を解除するが、それまでの間、町民に帰還への準備を進めてもらう。同時に、政府は避難指示解除後の日常生活の課題を把握し、環境整備に役立てる。

　町は居住区域の全域が避難区域のうちの「避難指示解除準備区域」に指定されている。寝泊まりできる準備宿泊は田村市都路地区と川内村東部に次いで３例目で、全域避難の県内７町村では初めて。

　政府の原子力災害現地対策本部によると、昨年１０月実施の調査では約４６％の町民が「町に戻りたい」と回答したが、準備宿泊に登録した町民は５日現在、１８２世帯３８２人と人口（２７１５世帯７４３８人）の５％にとどまる。そのほとんどが避難先の仮設住宅で暮らす高齢者だという。

　同町によると、東日本大震災と原発事故があった２０１１年３月から４年が経過し、人が住まなくなったことによる荒廃で、修繕が必要な家屋が約１０００軒ある。

　町の担当者は「すぐに戻れない町民は少なくない。戻れる家があったとしても、子どものいる家庭の多くは、放射線への心配から帰還しないだろう」と懸念する。【栗田慎一】

(試譯文)

On the 6th (April) the Fukushima prefecture Naraha city where almost the whole area was an evacuation zone due to the Tokyo Electric Power Fukushima Number One Nuclear Plant accident, a 3-month reparation aiming at lifting the evacuation directive this summer in preparation for a return had started. The country’s evacuation directive would be lifted as early as in July and up to this moment the preparation for returning to town was in progress. At the same time, the government was learning the daily life problems after the evacuation directive was lifted and assisted in environmental improvements.

   The town, within all the area in the resident district, had designated the "evacuation directive lifting preparation area" inside the evacuation district. This preparation for make possible a staying overnight was the third case, following Tamura city Miyakoji district, and the Kawauchi village east. Yet it was the first time to involve all the 7 towns and villages in a whole prefecture that had been an evacuation district.

   According to a nuclear-power disaster local task force of the government, about 46 % of townsman answered in October of last year that "we would like to return to town", but in an investigation of implementation up to now on the 5^th (April), the townsman who had registered for the staying preparation stood at 382 people from 182 households, being 5% of the population (7,438 people from 2715 households). It was said that the majority were senior citizens who were living at temporary housing in refuge areas.

   According to the said town, 4 years was past since March 2011 when a nuclear accident occurred due to the Eastern Japan Great Earthquake, and there were about 1,000 houses that needed repairing due to desolation because no people was living there.

  The people in charge of the town worried that "the number of townsman who cannot return immediately is not few. Even if there is a house which one can return to, many families with children would not return for fear of the radiation".

I think to the people in charge of this project, it is difficult to convince families with children to return for fear of radiation.