Disaster drill near Shika nuclear plant

November 2, 2014

Japan conducts nuclear disaster drill

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20141102_10.html

Nov. 2, 2014 - Updated 05:42 UTC+1

Japan's government is conducting a disaster drill on the scenario that an accident has occurred at a nuclear plant in Ishikawa Prefecture.

About 3,700 people, including local residents and officials from about 150 organizations, are expected to join the two-day exercise that began on Sunday.

The drill assumes that a major earthquake has damaged the Shika plant on the Sea of Japan, causing a loss of cooling functions.

Government officials set up a task force at the Cabinet Office in Tokyo and held an emergency meeting.
In the drill, Satoru Tanaka, a commissioner of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, said only one cooling system is working and that residents will likely be evacuated.

He confirmed that government ministries will cooperate in addressing the accident.

Officials of Ishikawa Prefecture and neighboring Toyama Prefecture also held an emergency meeting. They communicated with the central government and off-site emergency operation facilities via videoconference.

The officials were checking an order from Tokyo calling for the evacuation of elderly residents living within a precautionary action zone within a 5-kilometer radius of the plant.

The order was based on government disaster preparedness guidelines that were revised after the accident in Fukushima. This year's drill is the second of its kind under the new guidelines.