Radioactivity Around Fukushima Drops by 65%

The levels of radioactivity in the 50-mile radius around the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant have dropped by 65 percent since a devastating tsunami hit it in 2011, the Japanese reconstruction minister said Tuesday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — Decontamination work has been on in the area after the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, triggered by a 46-foot tsunami that was caused by a massive 9.0-magnitude offshore quake.

Five years after the disaster, the city of Fukushima recorded 0.19 microsieverts an hour, while the Fukushima Prefecture’s largest city of Iwaki registered 0.07 microsieverts, approximately the level of radiation in other large cities globally, Tsuyoshi Takagi said at a press briefing.

The 2011 tsunami caused three of the plant's six reactors to melt down, and radioactive substances leaked into the sea and air.

Some 140,000 people were evacuated from settlements near the plant. Around 100,000 are still unable to return home, Takagi said. Officials predict it will take some 40 years for the area to get over the aftermath of the tragedy.