© Wally Santana/AP
Thousands of people with homes near Fukushima Daiichi have been forced into evacuation centres outside the expanded 30km exclusion zone around the nuclear plant.
Thousands of people with homes near Fukushima Daiichi have been forced into evacuation centres outside the expanded 30km exclusion zone around the nuclear plant.
As many as 50,000 households within 30km (19 miles) of the plant will be eligible for provisional damages, which have been set at ¥1m (£7,300) per family and ¥750,000 for single-person households.
The bill will reach ¥50bn, the president of Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), Masataka Shimizu, told reporters. Additional compensation claims expected from farmers and fishermen who have had their livelihoods destroyed could see the total rise much higher.
Tens of thousands of people were forced to leave last month after the government evacuated areas within 20km of the facility, where engineers are still confronted with huge amounts of radioactive water and overheating reactors. Earlier this week the government said it would expand the no-go zone to five communities further from the plant where radiation levels could pose a long-term threat to health.
