AUTHORITIES IN JAPAN are considering implementing an outright ban on access to the evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant for the first time, citing concerns over radiation risks for residents who may be returning to check on their homes.

Between 70,000 and 80,000 people were living in the 10 towns and villages within a 12-mile radius of the Fukushima I plant, which has been leaking radiation after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami wrecked its power and cooling systems.

Virtually all left after being advised to do so, but some occasionally have returned, defying warnings from police who have set up roadblocks on only a few major roads in the area.

“We are considering setting up ‘caution areas’ as an option for effectively limiting entry” to the zone, government spokesman Yukio Edano said.

Noriyuki Shikata, one of Edano’s deputies, said the government was still considering details of how to control access to the immediate vicinity of the nuclear plant while also responding to demands from residents to check their homes and collect belongings.

Now that the situation at the plant appears to have stabilized somewhat, both residents and the authorities are considering how to best weather a protracted evacuation. Only a few warning signs, mainly about road conditions, have been erected in the area so far.

“There are a number of people who may be entering the area. Under the current regime, we are not in a position to legally enforce — there’s no penalty for entering into the area. There is a realisation of a need to have a stronger enforcement of the area,” Shikata said.

At present, police just keep track of people entering the evacuation zone by noting down their license plate numbers. Officials say one chief concern is that if there were a major accident, tracking those inside down would be difficult if not impossible.

It was unclear when the restrictions on entry into the area near the nuclear plant might be imposed.

In a step toward restoring the crippled nuclear plant’s cooling systems, the nuclear plant’s operator TEPCO is pumping highly radioactive water from the basement of one of its turbine buildings to a makeshift storage area.

AP