Japan’s Trade Ministry says it has ordered the operator of the tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant embroiled in the country’s worst-ever atomic crisis to pay about $12,000 to each household forced to evacuate because of radiation leaks.
Ministry spokesman Hiroaki Wada said Friday that the government ordered Tokyo Electric Power Co. to pay the compensation as soon as possible. Individuals forced to evacuate would get about $9,000.
He said the arrangement is a provisional one, with more compensation expected. Roughly 48,000 households living within about 19 miles (30 kilometers) of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant would be eligible for the payments.
