Japan Press Weekly

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2013 May 15 - 21 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Fukushima nuclear accident sufferers demand increase in compensation

Residents of Miyagi Prefecture, which neighbors Fukushima Prefecture, are demanding an increase in compensation for damages caused by the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011.

Representatives of Hippo district residents in Miyagi’s Marumori Town on May 20 announced at a news conference that they will file a complaint with the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), seeking fair compensation. The total number of the complainants has reached 698, 90% of the district population.

The district borders Fukushima Prefecture, located about 50 kilometers north of the Fukushima plant. The average radiation level at 14 points in that area came up to 0.7 microsieverts per hour following the disaster. This is almost the same level as that of the voluntary evacuation zone within Fukushima Prefecture.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima power station, paid 280,000 yen in compensation to each pregnant woman and child aged 18 or younger, and 40,000 yen to every adult in Marumori Town. Meanwhile, to the residents of the voluntary evacuation zone in Fukushima, the company paid 520,000 yen to each expectant mother and child, and 120,000 yen to every adult. There is thus a significant difference in compensation paid to the two areas.

People living in the Hippo district will lodge their complaint with the ADR, demanding that TEPCO pay them the difference of 70.24 million yen in total.

A 32-year-old mother rearing three children said to reporters, “I want more people to know about the unfair situation in which sufferers are enduring.”