The Japanese parliament has approved a plan to compensate the victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster.

The legislation creates a special fund that Fukushima owner and operator Tokyo Electric Power Company will use to pay reparations to tens of thousands of residents forced to evacuate a 20-kilometer area surrounding the plant. The fund will be financed by the sale of special government bonds and contributions from other power companies.

Farmers, fishermen and businesses have also lost income because of the accident.

TEPCO must eventually reimburse the fund in full.

The Fukushima nuclear plant suffered meltdowns in three reactors after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged cooling systems at all six of the plant’s units. It is the world’s worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.