Japanese nuclear officials have apologised to Fukushima residents for withholding maps showing dangerous radiation areas after last year's meltdowns.

The US maps were compiled from aerial surveys and given to the Japanese government and its nuclear safety agency immediately after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

But instead of releasing the maps, officials withheld them.

The officials have now apologised to the mayor of Kawauchi, a village near the nuclear plant which is now abandoned.

But mayor Yuko Endo rejected the apology, saying it was too late.

He says if his village had been given the maps they could have avoided evacuating into areas of high radiation.