Okuma residents do not want to return

Nearly half of the evacuated residents of Okuma, the host town of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, say they will not return to the town. A survey, conducted by the Reconstruction Agency and released Tuesday, found 45 percent of the former residents of Okuma say they will not return to the town, even if the evacuation order is lifted, The Mainichi Shimbun reported. In September, all 5,378 evacuated households were surveyed by mail, with 3,424 households -- 63.7 percent -- responding. Just 11 percent of respondents said they would like to return to Okuma if the evacuation order is lifted, and 41.9 percent said they have not yet decided. Some 80.8 percent of those who said they would not return to Okuma said they were anxious about radiation. Meanwhile, about 95 percent of residents' homes are expected to be in an area designated as unlivable for a long time, due to the earthquake and tsunami that severely damaged the nuclear plant. "Considering the lack of good news, I predicted such a result," Okuma Mayor Toshitsuna Watanabe said regarding the survey.