About 100 residents from the village of Kawauchi, Japan were allowed to return home briefly on Tuesday to gather belongings left behind when they were asked to evacuate after the massive earthquake and tsunami damaged the nuclear reactors of the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant last March 11.

Japanese officials disclosed that those who were allowed a short visit of two hours to their homes were issued and donned protective gear and were allowed to pack one small bag.

After two hours at their homes, residents were taken to a base to undergo examinations for radioactive substances.

On April 22 the Japanese government issued the mandatory evacuation from a 20-kilometer area around the nuclear plant for fear of radiation contamination for the residents living nearby after the cooling systems of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors were damaged by the earthquake followed by a massive tsunami struck Japan's Pacific coast.

The disaster at the nuclear plant located 240 kilometers north of Tokyo was dubbed as the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl in 1986.

Nearly 80,000 people in the 20km (12 mile) radius of the plant have evacuated from their homes, while 60,000 more living in towns another 10 km away where radiation levels may reach were ordered to remain sheltered and are awaiting orders to evacuate. The order is expected to come by Mid-May although a third of the residents outside of the 20-km zone have already left.#30