Evaluation of Residents’ Timing of Return to or New Settlement in Kawauchi Village, at 10 Years after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Hitomi Matsunaga, Makiko Orita, Mengjie Liu, Yuya Kashiwazaki, Yasuyuki Taira and Noboru Takamura
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Hitomi Matsunaga: Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan
Makiko Orita: Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan
Mengjie Liu: Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan
Yuya Kashiwazaki: Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan
Yasuyuki Taira: Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan
Noboru Takamura: Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Kawauchi village in Fukushima prefecture was affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, and residents had to evacuate from their hometown in 2011. This study clarified the timing and related factors with regard to residents returning to or newly settling in Kawauchi. A survey was conducted using a questionnaire, from February to March 2021, with assistance from the Kawauchi village office and post office. Of the 374 residents, 170 (45.5%) had returned to or newly settled in Kawauchi within the past 2 years (group 1), 84 (22.5%) in the past 2–5 years (group 2), and 99 (26.5%) after more than 5 years (group 3) following the evacuation order. An additional 21 residents (5.5%) who had lived in Kawauchi at the time of the FDNPP had not yet returned (group 4). Compared with the other groups, residents in group 1 were more satisfied with their current lives and were coping better with stress. Even though they had experienced a serious nuclear disaster, residents of Kawauchi village who returned to their hometown in the early phase had a high sense of satisfaction with their current life one decade after the FDNPP accident.

Keywords: Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident; life satisfaction; SOC-13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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