FUKUSHIMA – Nearly half of the families that fled from Fukushima Prefecture when the nuclear crisis began three years ago have been separated by housing problems, work requirements and children’s educational needs, according to a recent survey of the prefecture.
Although municipal governments in the exclusion zone have undertaken similar studies in the past, this was the first to cover the whole prefecture, including those forced to evacuate and those who left of their own volition.
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According to the survey by Fukushima Prefecture, 67.5 percent of the households said they have family members complaining of “physical and psychological problems.” More than half of the cases consisted of sleeping difficulties and inability to enjoy things as much as before.Of the residents who have expressed a desire to go back to their hometowns, 40.9 percent said they would go back if “their anxieties and the effects of radiation are reduced.”
But the nuclear plant still has a series of problems, including the leakage of highly contaminated water that is accumulating, while decontamination efforts by the central and local governments have been significantly delayed.
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