Naraha mayor Matsumoto at press conference

Naraha mayor Matsumoto at press conference

FUKUSHIMA, Japan - Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto of the town of Naraha in Fukushima Prefecture tells a press conference in Iwaki, also in the prefecture, on May 29, 2014, that citizens who have evacuated due to the ongoing problems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will try to return to Naraha in the spring of 2015.

Nuclear waste disposal

Nuclear waste disposal

FUKUSHIMA, Japan - Yukiei Matsumoto (R), mayor of the town of Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture, hands a letter of requests to Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato at the prefectural government hall in the city of Fukushima, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2014. The mayor told the governor that the town would not accept waste with high radiation levels in the interim storage facilities planned to be built in the town.

1st Fukushima beach opens since nuclear disaster

1st Fukushima beach opens since nuclear disaster

IWAKI, Japan - Three local women working as tour guides, including Yukiei Hakozaki (L), enter the water at Nakoso beach in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on July 16, 2012, marking the start of the swimming season on the Marine Day public holiday. The beach opened the same day as the prefecture's only functioning beach for the summer, with all other beaches to remain closed following the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011.

Fukushima town celebrates as nuclear crisis evacuation order lifted

Fukushima town celebrates as nuclear crisis evacuation order lifted

Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto (C) speaks at a ceremony in the town in Fukushima Prefecture on Sept. 5, 2015, following the lifting of the Japanese government's evacuation order for the town four and a half years after the March 2011 nuclear disaster. The ceremony was held to promote local people's desire for their early return to their hometown and its reconstruction. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japan gov't to delay lifting of evacuation order for Fukushima town

Japan gov't to delay lifting of evacuation order for Fukushima town

Yosuke Takagi (standing), a senior Japanese vice industry minister, tells Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto (2nd from L) on July 6, 2015, in Naraha that the central government plans to lift its evacuation order for the town in Fukushima Prefecture on Sept. 5, rather than in mid-August as earlier proposed, after some residents forced to evacuate after the 2011 nuclear disaster said they were not ready to return. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Fukushima salmon presented to PM Abe

Fukushima salmon presented to PM Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) receives salmon captured in a river in Naraha, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, from Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto (L) on Nov. 9, 2015. The government lifted in September an evacuation order issued for the town after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Fukushima mayor presents locally grown rice to PM Abe

Fukushima mayor presents locally grown rice to PM Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) receives a bag of rice harvested in Naraha in the northeastern Japanese prefecture of Fukushima from Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto on Nov. 9, 2015. The government lifted in September an evacuation order issued for the town after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Regulator proposes sea release of Fukushima plant water

Regulator proposes sea release of Fukushima plant water

Toyoshi Fuketa (L), chairman of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, and Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto hold talks in the town located near the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Jan. 11, 2018. Fuketa said water at the plant that still contains radioactive tritium after treatment should be diluted and released into the sea. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo