Japanese nuclear plant operators ordered to compensate affected families

The operators of the stricken Fukushima I nuclear power plant in northeast Japan have been ordered to pay compensation to families affected by the worsening crisis at the site amid calls for the resignation of the Japanese prime minister have demanded he resign over how he is handling the crisis, which has now been designated on par with the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Japanese officials ordered TEPCO to pay 1 million yen to each household affected by the crisis, which the company says will add up to approximately 49,956,000,000 yen. Earlier this week officials announced plans to expand the nuclear exclusion zone around the plant to include five more communities as radiation continues to leak from the plant. Pressure is now mounting for the resignation of Naoto Kan, the Japanese prime minister, for his handling of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima; some of his opponents have called for an independent inquiry into how he reacted to the disaster.