Nuclear disaster drill near Sendai plant

December 20, 2015

Nuclear disaster drill held near Japan's only rebooted plant

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20151220/p2g/00m/0dm/018000c

KAGOSHIMA (Kyodo) -- A nuclear disaster drill was held Sunday around the country's sole running nuclear power plant in southwestern Japan, following its reactivation earlier this year.

About 3,600 officials and residents took part in the event to prepare for the possibility of a serious accident within 30 kilometers of Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture. The last time a major drill was held around the plant was in October 2013.

The drill assumed that a strong earthquake of intensity upper 6 on the Japanese scale of 7 had caused the plant to lose power sources and become unable to cool its reactors. About 1,200 residents within 5 km from the plant were evacuated by bus and other vehicles.

People farther than 5 km but within 30 km were instructed to move in accordance with a prefectural-run system to determine how the wind was blowing to avoid areas with radioactive fallout.

At the two-reactor Sendai plant, located in the city of Satsumasendai, the No. 1 reactor resumed operation in August and the No. 2 unit in October. All other nuclear reactors in Japan remain offline in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

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Nuclear disaster drill held near Japan’s only rebooted plant

Kyodo

KAGOSHIMA – Following its reactivation earlier this year, a nuclear disaster drill was held around the country’s sole working nuclear power plant on Sunday.[…]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/12/20/national/nuclear-disaster-drill-held-near-japans-rebooted-plant/#.VnbtQFIR-id

Nuclear disaster drill held in Kagoshima

Dec. 20, 2015 - Updated 16:23 UTC+1

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20151220_20.html

About 3,600 people took part in a nuclear disaster drill around a power plant in southwestern Japan on Sunday.

The No.1 reactor of the Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture was restarted in August. It was the first one to meet the new regulations introduced after the 2011 accident in Fukushima. The plant's No.2 reactor resumed operations in October.

Sunday's drill assumed that a massive earthquake had cut off power, causing radioactive materials to leak outside the plant.

The video conferencing system at the off-site center is meant to be used for communicating with the prefectural government. But people's voices couldn't be heard for 3 minutes at the start of the drill.

Evacuation procedures were also rehearsed. Residents of a district in Satsumasendai City, which is less than 5 kilometers from the plant, were given an evacuation order in the morning and gathered at a meeting point before heading for Kagoshima City.

Some people who live more than 5 kilometers from the plant were ordered to evacuate in the afternoon. Four elderly residents of a care home boarded a bus and a special vehicle, accompanied by employees, to evacuate to another facility.

The prefectural government plans to review its evacuation plan as some residents have questioned its effectiveness.