
TOKYO -- After helping shape nuclear policy in post-Fukushima Japan, Shunichi Tanaka, a former chief of the country's nuclear watchdog, took on another tough assignment -- moving to a village still struggling from the 2011 nuclear disaster to help with its recovery effort.
In February, Tanaka, who chaired the Nuclear Regulation Authority until last September, became a reconstruction adviser in the tiny village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture. Like many in surrounding localities, Iitate residents were ordered to evacuate after a powerful earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, led to meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings' Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. To date, only around 10% of residents have returned.