Around seven years after the disaster, approximately 24,000 people still remain subject to the evacuation order.

The Japanese, in cooperation with TEPCO and many other parties involved, has been making its utmost efforts toward the restoration and reconstruction of Fukushima, lifted the evacuation order for almost all areas except the difficult-to-return zones, and decided on the policy of taking fuel debris out of the reactor. On the other hand, however, even after a lapse of some seven years after the accident, about 24,000 people still remain subject to the evacuation order, leaving Japan only half way through its efforts toward restoration from the accident.

Regarding regional disaster prevention plans and evacuation plans formulated on the basis of the basic disaster prevention plan and the nuclear emergency preparedness guidelines pursuant to the previsions of the Disaster Countermeasure Basic Act and the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness, the government will establish the Regional Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Council for each priority area of nuclear emergency preparedness around nuclear power plants, with relevant central government ministries and agencies and local governments as members, and the national and local governments should work cooperatively to flesh out and improve these plans.

The Regional Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Council should confirm that the regional disaster prevention and evacuation plans are specific and reasonable, and the Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Commission (NEPC), chaired by the Prime Minister, authorizes them.

The areas hosting nuclear power plants that have been supporting the supply of electric power in Japan are faced with a host of problems quite different from those of powerconsuming areas, including regional economic development measures such as the development of regional resources and attraction of tourists that should lead to sustainable development of the regional economies, mitigation of the impacts on the regional economies of the prolonged suspension, resumption of operations, extended operations or the decommissioning of nuclear power plants, and improvement of disaster prevention schemes, such as development of evacuation roads and procurement of materials and equipment necessary for disaster prevention activities.