ABC
North Asia correspondent Matthew Carney and staff
Updated Tue 25 Feb 2014, 6:59pm AEDT
Hundreds of Japanese people will soon be allowed to return to their homes, two years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster forced them to leave.
A 20 kilometre exclusion zone was declared around the nuclear plant after an earthquake and tsunami triggered a reactor meltdown in March 2011.
From April 1, 350 people from Tamura city will be allowed to head back to their homes permanently, according to Japan’s Reconstruction Agency.
Over the next two years, up to 30,000 people will be allowed to return to their homes in the original exclusion zone, thrown up in a bid to protect people from the harmful effects of leaking radiation.
Officials say once the evacuation order is lifted, people will be free to choose whether or not to return home.
Those who return home will continue to receive compensation for property and job loss, but will no longer receive the $US980 a month payment for emotional stress.
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