21 April 2011 (NECN/CNN) – Japan has made it illegal to enter the exclusion zone near the Fukushima Nuclear Plant, but authorities say some people have moved back in, and others have been collecting possessions from their homes. The flashing red lights, the warning signs, faces covered with masks, we are entering a no-go zone. One by one cars are checked; only a select few: residents, official vehicles allowed entry. Beyond this point: the Japanese government says it is not safe for people to live. Radiation levels from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant have spiked dangerously high. Even a policeman guarding the checkpoint admits he’s worried he may be putting his life at risk by doing his job. But as radiation is reading relatively low: we are even waved through, given rare access to what has been called a “hot zone.” From inside the 20-kilometer zone, we need to take precautions. We wore face coverings and our shoes were also protected. This is to stop us from coming into contact with any potentially contaminated material on the ground or breathing in any contamination. All around is desolation. What the tsunami spared, radiation has left contaminated. Houses have been abandoned, possessions left scattered. There are pools of water where the flooding has not yet receded. Everywhere there is debris … many buildings are beyond repair. Farm animals are left to fend for themselves; growing gaunt. To call it a ghost town is a cliché, but here no exaggeration. Amidst this silence: a lone resident, returning briefly to check on his home. He doesn’t want to be identified, but says he is scared and doesn’t trust the government when it tells him he is at low health risk. …

Inside Japan’s nuclear ‘hot zone’