The Japanese government has ordered the operator of a nuclear power plant badly damaged in an earthquake and tsunami to pay compensation to affected families.
The Tokyo Electricity Power Company (TEPCO) could be liable for a compensation bill of $US24 billion by the end of the year, the BBC reports.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant in north-east Japan was crippled on 11 March when a 9.0-magnitude quake triggered the disaster.
People forced to leave the area near the nuclear plant have been living in evacuation centres since.
With businesses shut, fields untended and fishing abandoned, many people have lost their livelihoods as well as their homes.
The government has told TEPCO to make a provisional damages payment of $US12,000 to each household.
About 48,000 families who lived within 30km of the plant will be eligible and the payments will be the first of what is likely to be a massive compensation bill, the BBC reports.
