Prime Minister Naoto Kan held the 18th meeting of the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters at the Prime Minister's Office.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said, "Today, I asked for a report of the progress up to now and some exchange of opinions. The recognition that the danger of hydrogen explosion has subsided and that continued cooling of reactors is possible has been presented not only by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) but also by the Chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC), based on which a report was made on the approach to revising some of the evacuation zones.
Additionally, the importance of decontamination was strongly emphasized by the minister in charge. I would like you to proactively tackle the task of enabling the former residents to safety return to their homes, or the task of determining to what extent these regions can be decontaminated thoroughly, as an issue for the next step."