Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held the 22nd meeting of the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters at the Prime Minister's Office.

Discussion took place on the status of the progress of completing the Roadmap towards Restoration from the Accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), and other matters.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said, "The impact of the accident is still evident in the affected regions. Many issues remain to be resolved, including the implementation of full-fledged decontamination operations, as well as matters pertaining to the disposal of rubble, including the establishment of a temporary storage space, intermediate treatment facilities, and final disposal sites; and the steps to be taken to enable the resident to return their homes.
On the other hand, with regard to the nuclear reactors, we have achieved the state of cold shutdown and we now have the prospect of keeping down the public radiation exposure dosage to a sufficiently low level, even in the case of emergency.
Having achieved this stable state, we have judged that the nuclear station accident itself has been concluded. This state has been achieved primarily due to the strenuous efforts of people working at the site and the major contributions of all people concerned, which I truly appreciate.
Although this marks the completion of Step 2 in the roadmap toward the conclusion of the accident, I ask Minister Hosono and relevant ministers to thoroughly ensure the safety of all nuclear power stations and steadily decommission the reactors using the framework of the Government-TEPCO Meeting for Medium- to Long-term Measures established today.
Furthermore, there are still many people who are forced to live away from their homes due to the effects of the accident. I would like to unify the Government's efforts in order for these people to return home at the earliest stage possible and rebuild the livelihoods."