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On October 27, 2017, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the ninth meeting of the Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Council at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the meeting, there were reports on the outcomes of the verification of emergency response plans in the Ohi area.

Based on the reports at the meeting, the Prime Minister said,

“The emergency response plans for the Ohi area that were compiled through the joint efforts of the national and local governments were approved today.

This region has peninsula and upland areas, making it especially vital that there is close collaboration among the relevant municipalities, including Fukui, Kyoto, and Shiga Prefectures.

The Government will collaborate even more closely with relevant municipalities and businesses to continuously verify and improve emergency response plans through actual training that includes operational forces.

It has been the consistent policy of the Government to respect the decisions made by the highly independent Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) regarding the nuclear power stations for which the NRA conducted scientific and technical examinations and found to be in compliance with the new regulatory standards that are the most rigorous in the world, and to restart only these power stations while gaining the understanding of the host communities.

The Government has the responsibility to implement this policy.

Should a nuclear power accident occur and it could develop into a disaster, it is the Government’s important responsibility to protect the lives, physical wellbeing, and property of the people, and the Government will do so responsibly. The Government will provide maximum support to municipalities and do all that it can.

I would like to ask relevant municipalities including Fukui Prefecture for their understanding and cooperation for this policy.

Even now, approximately six and a half years since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, we have not been able to dispel the people’s concerns about the use of nuclear power.

Humbly accepting this situation, the Government will carefully explain the nuclear power safety measures and nuclear disaster measures to gain public understanding. I would also like to ask all relevant ministers, including the Minister of State for Nuclear Emergency Preparedness, to make ceaseless efforts to listen to the various opinions of the people and reflect them appropriately in Government initiatives.”