Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, has declared the 20 kilometer evacuation area around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant a legal no-entry zone
Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, has declared the 20 kilometer evacuation area around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant a legal no-entry zone.
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He said the government would legally enforce a no-entry zone, prohibiting evacuees from temporarily returning their homes without government permission, the Kyodo News reports.
Kan unveiled the plan during talks with Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato at the prefectural office.
Kan told the governor that it ''''requires the understanding'''' of local communities where many residents have been forced to evacuate in the wake of the nuclear emergency.
The move will come into effect from Thursday midnight.
The plant is not in a stable condition, its reactor cooling systems were knocked out, and were hit by a series of explosions leading radiation into the air, ground and sea. It is considered world''s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl 25 years ago.