Evacuees give up on no-go zone

FUKUSHIMA — About 40 percent of evacuees from the town hosting the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant have no intention of returning there, a recent poll indicated Monday.

Releasing the results of the poll on 10,025 residents of Okuma, which is within the no-entry zone, Mayor Toshitsuna Watanabe said at a press conference, "Many residents want to return home but they have judged they cannot do so . . . "

Watanabe also said some respondents who said they will not return home may change their minds depending on progress in work to reduce radioactive materials and compensate them for damage from the crisis triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The town office conducted the poll in May and June and 64.6 percent of all residents responded. It showed 40.4 percent said they will not return to the town, while 39.9 percent said they will wait for the right time to return.

The town mailed questions to the residents from its temporary office in Aizuwakamatsu.