The operator of the crippled nuclear complex in Fukushima Prefecture has only paid 6 percent of the compensation sought by municipalities in connection with the 2011 nuclear crisis, according to a recent tally.

The delay in payments to the 12 municipalities designated by the government as evacuation zones highlights the continuing challenge to their reconstruction efforts six years after the nuclear disaster, triggered by the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of the Tohoku region on March 11, 2011.

The tally found that Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. had by the end of 2016 paid around ¥2.6 billion of the ¥43.3 billion demanded by the 12 local governments.