village close to the radioactive Fukushima
© ReutersLocals from a village close to the radioactive Fukushima site are being forced to return, say Greenpeace
Fukushima survivors are being urged to return to the nuclear disaster site by the Japanese government despite radiation levels similar to Chernobyl, say Greenpeace.

Officials are planning to slash housing support for 6,000 people from the village of Iitate on March 31, when the evacuation order is due to be lifted just six years on from the reactor meltdown, reports rt.com.

The risk to health is on a par with the exclusion zone around the former Soviet reactor Chernobyl in what is now Ukraine - more than 30 years after it spewed plumes of killer fission, say Greenpeace Japan.

radiation warning sign
© REUTERSGreenpeace say radiation levels are on a par with Chernobyl, which has an exclusion zone more than 30 years on
Energy campaigner Ai Kashiwagi said: "The relatively high radiation values, both inside and outside houses, show an unacceptable radiation risk for citizens if they were to return to Iitate.

"For citizens returning to their irradiated homes, they are at risk of receiving radiation equivalent to one chest X-ray every week.

"This is not normal or acceptable."