Tokyo/Fukushima, Apr 21 (PTI) Scrambling hard to tackle its worst atomic crisis, Japan today designated as a no-go zone a 20-km area around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant and said it would check breast milk samples for radiation amid concerns voiced by lactating mothers about safety of their infants. Premier Naoto Kan, who visited the Fukushima prefecture -- one of the worst-hit areas in the March 11 magnitude-9 quake and tsunami that left nearly 30,000 people dead or missing in Japan's northeast, vowed to make all-out efforts to help the affected people rebuild their lives. The legally-controlled off-limits zone around the Fukushima plant, which is to come into effect at midnight tonight in the first such move by the authorities, covers about 27,000 households in nine municipalities, from where the government had already instructed residents to evacuate. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the no-entry zone is aimed at protecting the health and safety of local residents as some of them have been returning home without sufficient radiation safety measures. From midnight tonight, anyone entering the banned area could be subject to fines. People entering the restricted zone would reportedly face fines up to 100,000 yen (USD 1,200) or possible detention of up to 30 days. Till now, defiance of the evacuation order was not punishable by law. The government also said it would allow one member of each household to temporarily return to their homes in the off-limits zone. But it has decided not to allow visits for residents living within three kilometres of the nuclear plant. During his visit to the region, Kan said his government would compensate residents affected by the atomic crisis. Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato asked Kan and the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to bring the situation under control quickly so that the local residents who have been forced to evacuate can return home. Kan then visited the national nuclear disaster task force in Fukushima and said his government has to make all-out efforts so that local residents can rebuild their lives. He asked officials of the task force to step up their efforts in helping revitalise Fukushima and the rest of Japan in what he said could be a long battle. Japan's government would also check breast milk samples for radiation. Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano announced this, but said radiation leaked from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has had no impact on breastfed infants. Although radioactive substances were reportedly detected in some samples, the levels were far below safety limits, he said. He said there is no need for excessive worry, and that the government instructed the Health Ministry to carry out the checks to alleviate concerns among breastfeeding mothers, national broadcaster NHK reported. (More) PTI KIM
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