TEPCO to offer provisional damages to people hit by nuclear crisis
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. will pay provisional compensation, probably by the end of this month, to residents and farmers living around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as their livelihoods have been heavily affected by the nuclear emergency there, company officials said Tuesday.
The utility, known as TEPCO, will make tentative estimates of the amount to be paid out in consultation with the government so that compensation can be made quickly as the nuclear crisis, triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, will likely drag on, the officials added.
Banri Kaieda, minister of economy, trade and industry, told a press conference that the government ordered the utility to pay the provisional compensation. "Certain sums of money must be paid out whenever it becomes possible," he said.
Some 80,000 residents near the power plant have been told to evacuate, while many farmers in and out of Fukushima have faced state-imposed shipment restrictions following the detection of radioactive substances in various foods.
The utility will reimburse them for their medical fees, lost income due to their evacuation and living costs in line with guidelines set by a government dispute settlement panel.
The utility began paying relief money of 20 million yen to each of nine municipalities on March 31, where residents have been ordered out because of the nuclear crisis, company officials said.
However, the municipal government of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, located north of the TEPCO plant, has refused to receive the money, saying damages payments to its resident should be made first, according to a Namie government official.
Residents in areas within a 20-kilometer radius from the Fukushima Daiichi plant and a 10-km radius from TEPCO's Daini nuclear plant some 10 km to the south have been ordered to evacuate due to radiation fears.
(Mainichi Japan) April 5, 2011
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