No-go ‘zone’ a state of mind

[yuiyoshida]

Decked out in full hazmat suits, Kazuhiro Onuki (right) and his wife, Michiko, take a stroll along the coast during a return trip to their hometown of Tomioka on April 17 as the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear plant, located south of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 complex, looms in the background. | AP

State's rush to reopen irradiated areas in Fukushima puts ex-residents in bind
by Yuri Kageyama

TOMIOKA, FUKUSHIMA PREF. – Whenever Kazuhiro Onuki goes home — to his real home, that is — the 66-year-old former librarian dons protective gear from head to toe and hangs a dosimeter around his neck.

Grass grows wild in the backyard. The ceiling leaks. Thieves have ransacked the shelves, leaving papers and clothing all over the floor so there is barely room to walk. Mouse dung is scattered like raisins. There is no running water or electricity.

Above all, radiation is everywhere.

It’s difficult to imagine ever living again in Tomioka, a ghost town about 10 km from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. And yet more than three years after three core meltdowns at the facility forced Tomioka’s community of 16,000 people to flee, Onuki can’t quite make the psychological break to start anew.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/07/national/go-zone-state-mind/#.U2t4RqLNvwd