TOKYO: The Japanese government has decided to lift an evacuation order on part of a town where the crippled nuclear power plant is located in Fukushima Prefecture.
With the order issued on Tuesday, residents can now return to their homes for good this week since the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.
Kyodo News reports that restrictions in a zone classified as a reconstruction and revitalisation base in Okuma will be lifted at 9 am on Thursday.
It is the first easing of the order that had been enforced on the municipality where Fukushima's nuclear power plant is located in northeastern Japan.
"Ending restrictions on an area, which used to be downtown (Okuma) before the disaster, will be a significant first step in reconstruction," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda said.
"We will create an environment where residents can return home without worries," Hagiuda said at a press conference.
The Kyodo News report also said that similar restrictions in the town of Futaba, which also hosts the Fukushima nuclear power plant, are also expected to end soon.
Okuma will be the second municipality in Fukushima Prefecture to see people return to an area once designated as being contaminated with high levels of radiation.
Restrictions in part of the Katsurao village were lifted on June 12.
With decontamination work reducing radiation levels and infrastructure being prepared in Okuma, authorities said restrictions will end in the 8.6 sq km area that was once the centre of the town.
Local authorities have been allowing residents to stay overnight in the area since last December in preparation for their full-scale return.
According to the Okuma town government, a total of 5,888 people in 2,233 households, accounting for about 60 per cent of the town population, were registered as residents of the area as of Monday.
Three other municipalities where residents are still not allowed to return are Tomioka, Namie and Iitate. These areas are expected to see restrictions lifted around next spring.
Meanwhile in another related development, the United Kingdom said it will lift import restrictions on some Japanese food products that were imposed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this on Tuesday during his meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the fringes of a Group of Seven leaders' summit in southern Germany.
"I'm delighted that tomorrow, finally, we are able to have Fukushima-origin products all over the shops in the U.K.," Johnson said on Tuesday.
Japan said that farm products including mushrooms from Fukushima, Miyagi and seven other prefectures have been subject to UK's import restrictions, with these items needing proof of having passed a check for radioactive materials.
Such certificates were also required for farm products harvested or processed in Yamagata, Ibaraki, Gunma, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka prefectures.
Kyodo News said the British government's decision comes after Kishida's visit to the UK last month, where the issue was discussed with the British government promising to remove the restrictions by the end of June.
Japan said some countries and regions, such as China, Russia, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan, still impose import restrictions on food items originating from Fukushima.