Part of Fukushima's Namie to Exit Evacuation Order March 31

Tokyo, March 1 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government, the town of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture and others agreed Wednesday to lift on March 31 the evacuation order for part of the town affected by the 2011 nuclear disaster.

The agreement was announced at a joint press conference held by the town, the prefecture and the central government's related headquarters the same day.

The evacuation order will be lifted at 10 a.m. (1 a.m. GMT) that day in three "reconstruction base" districts accounting for about 3 pct of the town's total area, or some 661 hectares.

The meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s <9501> Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in March 2011 prompted the town to evacuate its some 22,000 residents.

In March 2017, the evacuation order was lifted for some areas of Namie, and as of the end of January this year, about 2,000 people were living in the town. Some 80 pct of the town remains a "difficult-to-return" zone.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]