DHAKA: Japan’s efforts to scour areas around Fukushima have been insufficient, pressure group Greenpeace said on Thursday, as the government considers letting some residents return to homes near the crippled nuclear plant.

The environmental group said tests it had carried out inside the original 20km no-go zone around the plant showed that high levels of radiation remain.

Local and national officials are mulling lifting the exclusion order in parts of Tamura city, allowing people to return to homes they abandoned more than two and a half years ago.

They cite lowered pollution levels in the wake of large cleaning operations.

A recent Greenpeace survey found that decontamination programmes have been effective for houses and many parts of major routes in the city, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1743 HRS, OCT 10, 2013
RoR/RIS