Over 3,700 Fukushima Evacuees Yet to Claim Compensation: TEPCO

TEPCO vice president said that some 166,000 Fukushima evacuees claimed provisional compensation. By the end of November, 3,713 of them have not yet applied for full compensation.

MOSCOW, December 19 (Sputnik) — Over 3,700 persons who were forced to evacuate during Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown in 2011 have not yet claimed compensation from Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the Japan Times reported, citing a company executive.

Yoshiyuki Ishizaki, Vice President of the company that operated the Fukushima Daiichi plant, stated in a Thursday interview that some 166,000 evacuees claimed provisional compensation. As of the end of November, 3,713 of them have not yet applied for full compensation.

"With cooperation from local authorities, we are making progress in confirming the whereabouts of people who have yet to make claims," Ishizaki said, as quoted by the Japan Times, adding that TEPCO was unable to confirm the location of around 400 evacuees.

Some 750 persons have not applied for compensation at all, he said. The company plans to visit those individuals and advise them to make claims. TEPCO will continue accepting compensation claims for the time being, even though in some cases the statute of limitations has expired.

In March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant suffered a meltdown of several reactors as a result of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Some 140,000 residents were evacuated due to a major leakage of nuclear materials. A complete cleanup of the disaster is predicted to take 40 years.