Evacuees, who fled from the vicinity of Fukushima nuclear power plant, rest at an evacuation center set in a gymnasium in Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture in northern Japan, 15 March 2011. Reuters

TOKYO, April 17 (Kyodo) – The government will decide whether people evacuated from areas around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant can return to their homes after plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. settles the crisis in six to nine months as it plans, industry minister Banri Kaieda said Sunday. … Kaieda also admitted that, unless the situation significantly improves, it is ”quite difficult” for evacuees to return to their homes within the next three months designated by Tokyo Electric as the ”step one” period, in which the utility aims to achieve a steady decline of radiation dose. Up until the ”step two” period to be taken in the next six to nine months, during which the utility aims to bring the release of radioactive materials under control, the government would consider reviewing the evacuation criteria and will decontaminate the widest possible area. ”By implementing this, we would like to announce, within six to nine months as our target, to the residents of some of the areas whether they will be able to come home,” Kaieda said. To make a decision for the return, thorough monitoring of the radiation level, decontamination of the soil, the removal of massive debris which have strewn around the site as a result of hydrogen explosions, are among the important factors, according to Kaieda. … The government has recently added a new concept in the evacuation area called ”Deliberate Evacuation Area,” which is a zone beyond the 20-km range that has health risks for remaining there for a long period of time due to high amounts of cumulative radioactive materials. Once designated as such an area, the people there are ordered to evacuate in around one month. …

Gov’t to decide whether evacuees can return home after 6-9 months