Re-entry plans fade for abandoned communities around Fukushima

Japanese officials are admitting that for many of the 80,000 residents evacuated from the 20-kilometer radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe re-entry is unlikely for decades to come, if then.

Radiological surveys are finding many areas more radioactive than the 20 milliseivert/hour government standard for evacuation with some communities registering more than 500 milliseiverts/hour.

Moreover, many more residents in the 20 to 30-kilometer radius around the stricken reactors remain unable to get official evacuation status and government support to quit areas more radioactive than the 20 milliseivert/hour standard. Other areas officially designated to be at "permissable" levels, schools playgrounds are void of children for fear of increased radiation exposure.