Japan's Fukushima lifts evacuation order 11 years after nuclear incident

A survey taken earlier this year showed only 11 per cent of the town's previous residents wanted to return

Futaba, north-eastern Japan. Until recently, the town, home to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, had been entirely empty of residents since the disaster in March 2011. AP

Fast-food restaurant owner Atsuko Yamamoto serves a customer at her shop, Penguin, in the town centre. The area only recently started to undergo reconstruction after the nuclear disaster and earthquake 11 years ago. AP

A bus driver prepares to run a shuttle service between Futaba train station and a nuclear disaster memorial museum. AP

An abandoned shop. Most damaged buildings in Futaba have been torn down in the past 11 years. AP

A damaged Buddhist temple and a kindergarten lie abandoned. AP

Heavy-duty machinery sits unattended in the evening beside a building that is set to be torn down. AP

The building site of a planned apartment complex in Futaba. A tiny section of the town has reopened for the first time since all 7,000 residents had to flee. AP

A destroyed and abandoned warehouse. NurPhoto via Getty Images

A dilapidated, empty shop that used to sell cosmetics. NurPhoto via Getty Images

An artist creating a mural on an outer wall of the disused fire station in Futaba. NurPhoto via Getty Images

Abandoned equipment in an overgrown playground. NurPhoto via Getty Images

Residents have been allowed to return to the remote Japanese town housing the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant for the first time in 11 years, a major milestone for cleaning up the worst atomic disaster in decades.

Futaba, located in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, lifted evacuation orders for some areas on Tuesday. Residents were removed from their homes following the nuclear meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in March 2011.

The meltdown was sparked by a tsunami that swept away towns and cities after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, leaving more than 20,000 people dead or missing.

It is the last of 11 municipalities to have an evacuation order lifted after the disaster. By 2030, the town aims to have 2,000 residents, less than 30 per cent of its original population, Japan Times reported.

The move comes as Japan shows renewed interest in atomic power to offset higher oil and gas prices and the effect of a weak yen on the resource-scant nation. While the Fukushima plant itself remains inoperable, radiation levels around the site have dropped over the last decade and evacuation orders are steadily being lifted for surrounding towns.

Nevertheless, Futaba faces a long road ahead to rebuilding the town. Most of the town remains off-limits, and a survey last year showed only 11 per cent of its citizens want to return to their hometown.

Last week, Tepco announced it had delayed work to remove radioactive debris from one of the reactors at the devastated power station, saying it needed an "additional preparation period" of up to 18 months. The work could now start as late as March 2024.

The delay is necessary "to improve the safety and ensure the success" of surveying inside the reactors and retrieving the debris, the company said.

Engineers are fine-tuning a robotic arm specially designed for the work, including adjusting its speed and precision, Tepco said.

AFP and Bloomberg contributed reporting