Fukushima lessons can't be erased

March 11, 2015

NRA chief: Never let Fukushima lessons fade away

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150311_25.html

Mar. 11, 2015 - Updated 09:46 UTC+1

The chief of Japan's nuclear regulator has told his staff never to forget the lessons of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis in fulfilling their mission to ensure safety.

Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka was speaking before officials of the NRA secretariat on Wednesday to mark the 4th anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi plant accident.

Tanaka said there's no erasing the fact that the accident worsened the tragic damage of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

He said regulators must never let the lessons of Fukushima fade away even though others may tend to do so some 4 years on.

Tanaka also urged his staff to do their best to reduce risks. He said serious accidents completely change life for local residents, and that restoring it is difficult. He stressed that such situations should never be allowed.

The authority and its secretariat were established in 2012 after their predecessors were criticized for failing to cope with the Fukushima crisis.

Govt. officials urged to learn Fukushima lessons

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150311_17.html

Mar. 11, 2015 - Updated 05:56 UTC+1

A Japanese Cabinet Minister has instructed government officials to learn from the lessons of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. He has asked them to do so when helping municipalities around nuclear plants make evacuation plans for future accidents.

Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Minister Yoshio Mochizuki spoke to about 50 officials on Wednesday, the 4th anniversary of the March 11 disaster. The officials belong to a Cabinet Office section that was established in October.

Mochizuki, who is also Environment Minister, said the officials should reflect on the fact that effective disaster-response measures had not been in place at the time of the Fukushima accident.

He said they should draw concrete lessons from the experience and rethink the response to the accident. He said this should be reflected in new countermeasures.

All commercial nuclear reactors in Japan are currently offline. But utilities have applied for permission to restart 21 of them.

Municipalities within a radius of 30 kilometers of a nuclear power plant are now required to make plans to evacuate residents. But many problems with the plans have been raised.

The Cabinet Office intends to help verify the effectiveness of the plans by reviewing evacuation drills run by the relevant prefectures.