Tokyo ( CNN ) -- Acknowledging the toll the unrelenting nuclear crisis has had on people 's lives and livelihoods , the owner of Japan 's stricken nuclear plant has offered money to some of those in the radiation 's reach -- an offer that one city decided to refuse . An official with Tokyo Electric Power Company , which operates the Fukushima Daiichi power plant , said Tuesday that the utility made a `` token '' offer to residents in 10 communities near the plant . Nuclear crisis explainer . Starting March 31 , money began going out to those in nine of them . But the town of Namie rejected Tokyo Electric 's offer , with a local official calling it too meager an attempt to make up for a drastically reduced quality of life and income . `` Our people are suffering , and unfortunately , everything we 've built is gone , '' Mayor Tamotsu Baba told CNN . `` Where is our direct apology ? '' Baba asked . `` Because the cash certainly does n't amount to much . '' Tokyo Electric says the amount is an initial token payment , not compensation for losses sustained as a result of the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi . They promise that will come later -- after they have assessed the damage from the accident , which has spread radioactive contamination across much of the surrounding area . The company called the initial offer `` payment for their troubles , '' and would not detail how much money is being offered to each community . But Kousei Negishi , who is the manager of general affairs for Namie , said that it was 20 million yen -- about $ 12 for each of Namie 's roughly 20,000 residents . That amount of cash , said Negishi , is `` not enough . '' And it is logistically difficult to force local governments to distribute the money , which he said should be Tokyo Electric 's responsibility . Several officials from Fukushima , the prefecture that includes the crippled plant , took their complaints about the company and the evacuation zone to Prime Minister Naoto Kan 's Tokyo office Tuesday afternoon . `` We do n't know if TEPCO understands what we 're going through , '' said Katsuya Endo , the mayor of Tomioka , one of the towns that has been evacuated since the accident . Special coverage . The company said Tuesday that would be worked out between the power company and the Japanese government , which has pledged to support Japan 's largest utility in the crisis . One week ago , a report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimated Tokyo Electric will face compensation claims of 1 trillion Japanese yen ( about $ 12.13 billion ) if the recovery effort takes two months , the financial company 's Tokyo spokesman Takayuki Inoue told CNN . That figure would rise to 2.4 trillion to 3 trillion yen if the process takes six months , and up to 10 trillion yen if the recovery takes two years , according to the report . Most likely , tens of thousands of people will have a legitimate claim to this cash . They 'll include those who have n't been able to work , who have been forced out of their homes or who otherwise have had their lives turned upside down in the problem-plagued , complicated struggle to contain the emission of radiation into the air , ground and water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant . How to help . The government ordered about 78,000 people who lived within 20 kilometers ( 12 miles ) of the plant to evacuate , due to high air and ground radiation readings in those locales . Another 62,000 lived within 20 to 30 kilometers ( 12 to 19 miles ) -- the so-called exclusion zone , where people have been told to stay indoors -- an official from Kan 's office said . Namie is located just outside this 30-kilometer radius . Interactive map . Thousands of others have been affected by the crisis . They include fishermen , who have been told not to go within 20 kilometers of the plant and are facing consumers skeptical about the safety of local seafood , especially after authorities announced plans to dump 11,500 tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean . Farmers , too , have been hit hard by restrictions on the sale and distribution of certain crops because of radiation readings exceeding government limits . Tokyo Electric itself has suffered as well . The company has admitted it 's been inundated by 40,000 public complaints daily coming into its offices , its stock has plummeted and its faced several protests , including one Sunday in downtown Tokyo that drew about 250 people . Last week , Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata acknowledged the financial difficulties and reports that Japan 's government is considering nationalizing the company . `` ( But ) we want to make every effort to stay a private company , '' he said .
Tokyo : ` ` Everything we ' ve built is gone , '' the mayor of Tokyo says . Tokyo Electric offers 20 million yen to residents of the communities near the plant . The utility company says more money to those affected will likely come in the future . An estimate is that Tokyo Electric will pay $ 12 billion to $ 121 billion in compensation .