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Japan Mayor Offers Fukushima Kids Home in His Town
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/japan-mayor-offers-fukushima-kids-home-town-20641685?singlePage=true
Japan Mayor Offers Fukushima Kids Home in His Town
MATSUMOTO, Japan October 22, 2013 (AP)
By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press
A generation ago, Dr. Akira Sugenoya performed lifesaving cancer surgery on more than 100 children after the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe. Today, as mayor of a central Japanese city, he's trying to avoid a repeat of his own history.
Beginning in April, parents living in the shadow of the Fukushima nuclear disaster will be able to send their children about 300 kilometers (200 miles) away to his city, Matsumoto, to go to school. The city will pay 14 million yen ($140,000) a year for a six-bedroom house and caretakers; parents won't pay tuition but will cover expenses such as utilities and meals.
"If my fears turn out to be unfounded, nothing would be better news," Sugenoya said in a recent interview with The Associated Press at Matsumoto city hall. "But if they become reality, then there is little time before it's too late."
<snip>
The government also has acknowledged that it failed to effectively use data that accurately forecast where radioactive plumes were headed. While a zone around the nuclear plant was cleared, residents beyond the zone who were in the predicted paths of the plumes were not warned.
<snip>
Japan Mayor Offers Fukushima Kids Home in His Town
MATSUMOTO, Japan October 22, 2013 (AP)
By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press
A generation ago, Dr. Akira Sugenoya performed lifesaving cancer surgery on more than 100 children after the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe. Today, as mayor of a central Japanese city, he's trying to avoid a repeat of his own history.
Beginning in April, parents living in the shadow of the Fukushima nuclear disaster will be able to send their children about 300 kilometers (200 miles) away to his city, Matsumoto, to go to school. The city will pay 14 million yen ($140,000) a year for a six-bedroom house and caretakers; parents won't pay tuition but will cover expenses such as utilities and meals.
"If my fears turn out to be unfounded, nothing would be better news," Sugenoya said in a recent interview with The Associated Press at Matsumoto city hall. "But if they become reality, then there is little time before it's too late."
<snip>
The government also has acknowledged that it failed to effectively use data that accurately forecast where radioactive plumes were headed. While a zone around the nuclear plant was cleared, residents beyond the zone who were in the predicted paths of the plumes were not warned.
<snip>