Tuesday marked the 14th anniversary of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, critically damaged in a devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami, with residents in some of the areas most affected saying they are concerned about the pace of the clean-up and decommissioning of the plant.
People in Okuma Town in Fukushima, near the plant, told China Central Television recently that they lived in fear of ongoing threats from contaminated waste water and other nuclear residue that is still inside the plant.
"We want to come back but we can't. Physically we can come back now, but everyone is no longer here and there is nothing we can do. There is no job available and there are still many problems left," said one resident of the town.
"Although there are many new facilities nearby, many areas closer to the mountain are still off-limits. There are still various problems to be solved, and how to solve them needs careful consideration," said another resident.
Removing about 880 tons of nuclear fuel residue in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, is considered the biggest challenge for the plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which says it is targeting full decommissioning of the plant by 2051.
A small amount of nuclear residue was removed in November last year for testing, with results of the analysis expected early this summer.
Some experts say that it may take up to 100 years to remove the nuclear residue safely, and the plant may not be decommissioned on schedule.
The government's plan to reuse 14 million cubic meters of nuclear contaminated soil has also been strongly opposed by people in the affected areas.
Residents complain about pace of clean-up 14 years after Fukushima disaster
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Russia's armed forces continued to strike Ukrainian forces in multiple directions and has taken control of one more settlement in the Donetsk region, while Ukraine, on the same day, reported strikes against several key facilities in Russia.
"As a result of decisive actions, units of the Southern Group of Forces liberated the settlement of Sviato-Pokrovske in the Donetsk region," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Russian troop clusters continued to strike Ukrainian forces in the directions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson.
Russian air forces, strike drones, missile units and artillery struck 142 areas of Ukrainian military airport and port infrastructure, strike drone production facilities, energy facilities supporting Ukrainian military operations, as well as temporary deployment points of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries.
Additionally, Russian air defense systems shot down six aerial bombs, one U.S.-made HIMARS rocket, and 472 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles in the special military operation zone over the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
On the same day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that to weaken the combat capabilities of the Russian armed forces, Ukrainian forces carried out strikes on several key facilities in Russia.
Two oil storage tanks caught fire at the southern Russian port of Temryuk after a drone attack.
The total fire area is approximately 2,000 square meters. And 70 personnel and 18 pieces of equipment are involved in the firefighting effort.
Temryuk is a major seaport on the Black Sea, vital to Russia's export of oil and petroleum products, and it is also one of the important logistics support hubs for the Russian military.
In addition, Ukrainian forces carried out strikes on the military airport located in Maikop City, claiming that the fire caused had a significant impact on the normal operation of the airport.
It also reported that Ukraine's air force struck the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia's Rostov Oblast using Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles, triggering multiple explosions, with the extent of damage still being clarified.
Russia reports multi-directional strikes against Ukraine, Ukraine claims strikes on key facilities in Russia
