XPost: alt.global-warming, alt.energy.nuclear, sac.politics   
   XPost: misc.survivalism   
   From: democrat.decisions@latimes.com   
      
   The Japanese government official in charge of cleaning up the   
   region devastated by a 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster   
   apologized Tuesday after yelling at a reporter who criticized   
   the official's position on refugees.   
      
   Masahiro Imamura, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party and   
   head of the recovery effort for the Tohoku region, said he   
   "became emotional" after a journalist pressed him on the   
   government's role in assisting 26,000 so-called "voluntary   
   evacuees" who fled Tohoku's Fukushima prefecture after a massive   
   tsunami and earthquake caused a meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1   
   nuclear power plant and released deadly radiation. The   
   government reportedly cut housing funds Friday to the refugees,   
   who Imamura said Tuesday should bear “self-responsibility for   
   their own decisions.” When one reporter pointed out that many   
   were still in need of assistance and pressed Imamura for a   
   "responsible answer," the official raised his voice.   
      
   "I’m doing my job in a responsible manner. How rude you are!"   
   Imamura yelled. “You should retract what you’ve just said. Get   
   out!” he added, according to the Japan Times. “Never come here   
   again!”   
      
   The minister reportedly continued to shout before someone in   
   attendance accused the official of "causing problems for the   
   evacuees." Imamura told the individual to "shut up" and left the   
   conference, Japan Today reported.   
      
   Heightened levels of nuclear radiation following the 2011   
   earthquake and tsunami caused about 160,000 people to evacuate   
   the district of Fukushima. Six years later, only around 20   
   percent of the residents have returned to areas where evacuation   
   orders were lifted, according to Japanese newspaper The Asahi   
   Shinbun, and many have expressed little desire to go back.   
   Critics have accused Tokyo of encouraging residents to   
   repopulate the area by cutting assistance, despite ongoing   
   health concerns and numerous setbacks that have plagued efforts   
   to rebuild the area.   
      
   The Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owned the ruined plant,   
   has been tasked with the $188 billion recovery process, which   
   has hit multiple obstacles as the company attempted to send   
   robots into the "unimaginable" levels of radiation that   
   persisted in the plant's radioactive cores. The robots have also   
   succumbed to the radiated terrain, leaving researchers uncertain   
   of the site's future.   
      
   http://www.newsweek.com/japans-fukushima-cleanup-minister-says-   
   refugees-nuclear-radiation-are-579661   
      
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